The San Diego Padres opened the 2024 season approximately $100 million lighter after a winter of payroll cuts.
The most notable move made by A.J. Preller and his team was the trade of league superstar Juan Soto to the New York Yankees in early December.
Any team that acquires a player of Soto’s calibre is already poised to win, and Soto did not disappoint in his first year in the Bronx, posting a career high 8.1 fWAR and 41 homers, according to FanGraphs, and helping lead the Yankees back to the postseason with the best record in the American League.
The Padres did, however, receive a solid return, with young promising arms Drew Thorpe and Jhony Brito joining Michael King, who had a remarkable 3.9 fWAR in a combination of starts and relief outings for New York in 2023.
However, after San Diego shipped Thorpe in a package to Chicago to acquire previous Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease from the White Sox, it appeared like Cease would be the Padres’ biggest gain in the Soto drama heading into 2024.
However, this season, King demonstrated why the Padres were so eager to include him in a deal for Soto. And, after completing a spectacular regular season with an amazing Game 1 start against the Atlanta Braves in their Wild Card series on Tuesday night, King demonstrated why this arrangement is clearly a win-win for all parties.
King already had the trade headed toward a win-win scenario.
As previously said, King was terrific not just in his first full season with the Padres, but also as a starting pitcher.
In 31 appearances, 30 of which were starts, he had a 2.95 ERA and 3.33 FIP, a 1.19 WHIP, a.220 AVG against, and 201 strikeouts in 173.2 innings.
King had the best ERA among all Padres starters with at least 80 innings pitched, trailing only Cease in fWAR and FIP.
Padres Key Starters’ 2024 Regular Season Statistics, according to FanGraphs.
In 2024, King posted some very excellent advanced stats. He had above-average rates in both xERA and xBA this season. His xERA of 3.54 and xBA of.228 were both in the 69th percentile among MLB pitchers.
His swing and miss rates were considerably higher than those of other major league pitchers. He finished in the 81st percentile for K-rate (27.7%), 78th percentile for whiff rate (29.2%), and 70th percentile for chase rate (30.5%).
And he shone in terms of how opponents struggled to make quality contact with him. This season, his average exit velocity of 85.7 mph ranked him in the 99th percentile of all MLB players. He compared that to a 97th percentile hard-hit rate of 30.3% and a 79th percentile barrel rate of 6.2%.
This resulted in good outcomes for the bulk of his five individual pitch offerings, including a sub-.210 AVG against percentages for his sinker, changeup, and sweeper.
Michael King’s pitch offerings and results in the 2024 regular season, according to Baseball Savant
King took it to the next level when it mattered the most.
Regular season performance is critical, as excellent results over 162 games typically lead to postseason baseball.
And the postseason, particularly World Series glory, is what every team eventually strives for.
Michael King’s seven-inning shutout with 12 strikeouts and no walks against the Braves on Tuesday confirmed the Padres’ and Yankees’ success in the Juan Soto trade.
King pitched like an ace in his first career postseason start, becoming the only pitcher to strike out 12 and allow no earned runs or walks.
We already knew what Cease and Darvish were capable of, as well as their respective ace upsides, but after Tuesday night, combined with an impressive 2024 regular season, the Padres could have a third ace in King.
And, given that all three are still under contract through 2025, the Padres will enjoy another season with their “big three” on the mound.
This clearly puts San Diego in a better position right now in terms of their return in the Soto trade, since Soto becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and the Yankees could wind up with nothing but bench outfielder Trent Grisham from this trade after 2024.
Michael King has already made both parties happy with this trade, but if this is just the beginning of a miraculous postseason run that builds momentum into 2025, the Padres might be outright victors in a matter of weeks, despite giving up one of baseball’s top five players.
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