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Red Sox free agent target (with local ties) re-signs with Padres on $75M deal
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- Red Sox free agent target (with local ties) re-signs with Padres on $75M deal
Even after trading for starters Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo earlier in the offseason, the Red Sox kept tabs on free agent right-hander Michael King . King — who attended high school in Rhode Island and pitched at Boston College — had major interest in coming to Boston but instead will return to the city he has called home for the past two seasons.
As first reported by MLB.com's Mark Feinsand , King agreed to a three-year, $75 million contract to return to the Padres late Thursday. The deal includes opt-outs after Years 1 and 2 (2026 and 2027). Despite reported interest from three teams in the American League East (the Red Sox, Yankees and Orioles), King elected to stay with the Padres, who obtained him as one of the key pieces in the December 2023 blockbuster that sent Juan Soto to New York.
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King, who was born in Rochester, spent most of his childhood in Warwick, Rhode Island, then went on to star at Bishop Hendricken High School before pitching for BC from 2014-2016. Because of those New England ties, one source close to King said last weekend that he would "love to be in Boston" if the term and dollars lined up . The Red Sox are known to be prioritizing offensive additions after obtaining both Gray and Oviedo and while another rotation addition can't fully be ruled out, it's much more likely that the club's next addition of note will come on the offensive side of things.
King, 30, has a career 31-29 record and 3.24 ERA in 161 major league games (64 starts) with the Yankees and Padres since debuting in 2019. With San Diego , he has pitched particularly well, logging a 3.10 ERA and recording 277 strikeouts in 247 innings over the past two years. His $75 million guarantee is the second-biggest deal handed out to a pitcher so far this winter, trailing only Dylan Cease , who got $210 million from Toronto .
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