Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets and Michael King met over a video meeting today as part of the Winter Meetings. King, 30, was a member of the Yankees from 2019 to 2023 and for the past two years pitched for the Padres. King reportedly met with other teams besides the Mets as well.
King worked out of the bullpen for the bulk of his career before transitioning to a starting role at the tail end of 2023. Since joining the Padres, King has made 45 starts over two seasons with a 3.10 ERA. He missed significant time in 2025 with both shoulder and knee injuries, and declined the Padres’ Qualifying Offer earlier this offseason.
King is expected to sign and three to four year deal, which would track with the Mets reported desire to not sign starters to long-term contracts.
As Sherman points out, in addition to a shorter contract, King also has history with Mets’ manager Carlos Mendoza when he was a coach for the Yankees and has passed the (occasionally overstated) ‘can play in New York’ test. On the downside, the fact that King was tendered a Qualifying Offer means that the Mets would lose a second and fifth round draft pick in 2026 if they were to sign King.
