The Padres are expected to reinstate right-hander Michael King from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game versus the Reds, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He’s been out since early Aug. 9 due to knee troubles. That August start stands as King’s only appearance since mid-May, as he’d previously missed more than two months with a nerve issue in his right shoulder.
King hasn’t pitched in a minor league rehab game, though skipper Mike Shildt said in a radio appearance late last week that he’d tossed five innings in a scrimmage setting at the team’s Arizona Complex League facility. That put him on turn to take the ball Tuesday, which would’ve been Nestor Cortes’ spot in the rotation had he not gone down with a biceps strain this past Friday.
Those shoulder and knee injuries have limited King to just 11 starts this season, though he’s been every bit as excellent in that slate of appearances as he was with the Padres in 2024 and with the Yankees’ rotation late in 2023. King has pitched 57 2/3 frames on the season and carries a terrific 2.81 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate, an 8.1% walk rate, a 38.3% ground-ball rate and 0.94 homers per nine innings. Since moving into a starting role full-time, the former swingman has started 49 games and pitched to a 2.77 ERA. He’s punched out 28.2% of his opponents against an 8.2% walk rate.
King will step back into a San Diego rotation that’s been anchored by offseason signee Nick Pivetta, in terms of both workload and quality. Pivetta’s 164 1/3 innings lead the Friars, and his 2.85 ERA is tops among Padres starters (with the exception of King’s 2.81 in about one-third as many innings). The ultra-durable Dylan Cease has been healthy all season but has continued to struggle to strand runners, leaving him with a 4.71 ERA despite a premium 30% strikeout rate and passable (albeit somewhat elevated) 10% walk rate. Veteran righty Yu Darvish has a 5.75 ERA in his 11 starts, though he’s trimmed that considerably over his past seven trips to the bump (4.11 ERA). Randy Vasquez has kept his ERA under 4.00 despite walking a tightrope with nearly as many walks (9.7%) as strikeouts (12.3%). There’s likely some regression in store for him.
All of that makes getting King back into the mix all the more critical. The Padres added lefties Cortes and JP Sears at the deadline but didn’t deepen their staff overall, given that they sent out starters Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek in the trade that brought catcher Freddy Fermin to Petco Park. Getting King back could be pivotal, particularly since it’ll give him three to four starts to ramp up and get back into form ahead of the Padres’ looming postseason berth.
It’ll also give him a bit more time to build up his case ahead of what’ll be his first trip to the free-agent market. A swift return to form would bode well for the talented righty’s earning power on the open market. If healthy, King should be among the more coveted starting pitchers in free agency this offseason.
King’s return is likely an unwelcome development for the Reds and their fans. Cincinnati sits four games behind the Mets in the National League Wild Card race, tied with the Giants in that regard. A series loss or a sweep at the hands of the Padres could be a backbreaker for their season. From the Padres’ vantage point, winning even two of three would further pad their standing in the Wild Card mix. And, with just a one-game deficit standing between the Friars and the division-leading archrival Dodgers, King could be a pivotal part of a late push for the division.
Return of the King!
Go Pads 🤙🏽😎🤙🏽
Right in time for the playoffs push, the division is still up for grabs. Good luck to your Padres, it’s going to come down to the last week I think!
Bling bling > Division banner
Absolutely, a World Series trophy is the goal, but winning the division would get the Padres to host and maybe get a bye.
I don’t think anyone is catching the Brewers or the Phillies for the two byes.
Still like to see the Padres pick up the pace and either win the division or take the 1st WC spot. It gives them home field advantage in the 1st round of playoffs they will play.
I like your new avatar. De Oppresso Liber. “From an oppressed man, to a free one.” The Army SF motto.
Were you in the stack or an officer?
Thanks Web, but neither. A tribute to our 75yo dad who just celebrated his b-day. SSG in the 5TH SFG, a true American hero. Shoutout to all servicemen and women- thank you for your service!
Hooah. The 5th is one of the most decorated units in the US military. Badasses all. Happy Birthday to your dad.
La Padres made out great in that trade acquiring King from the Yankees. Yankees got their rental at a high cost. Yes it helped them get to the WS , however, “If you ain’t first you’re last Bobby”.
“Oh I just can’t wait to be King”
A Giant amongst dwarfs and hobbits including future Rudy and Spidey
Gollum and I have a lot in common… balding, possibly malnourished and obsessed with a ring. Makes sense.
Precious
Myyyy precioussss…!
San Diego is no place for a King.
May he return pitching like peak era Cliff Lee or Justin Verlander and secure that bag at like 4 years/$170M or 6 years/$225M etc. he deserves it. One of my favorite success stories of an under the radar pitchers who’s made a name for themselves.
Seth Lugo
$225 million for Michael King would be….something.
Look at it this way:
Nowadays any pitcher who’s got high market visibility, is well liked and has a ton of hype around them will get like 1 year/$15M just to sit on an injured list and recover in someone’s organization.
A player between 29-32 years old who’s at the peak of their game is going to secure 5+ years at top dollar within a $5M-$10M AAV range starting at a $30M floor and a $50M ceiling.
This means at the very least, Michael King will be looking at 5 years/$150M as a floor, where he’s essentially giving a team a massive discount just because he likes them or something.
Lets assume he’d just be going for the highest AAV and largest length contract he can find and the market for him is genuinely competitive.
That’d very reasonably assume a bidding war that could easily push it up to 6 years/$240M and as high as 7 years/$315M.
I think the contract will wind up at 6 years/$255M if there is a bidding war and if he’s just going for where he actually wants to be and that team offers him something reasonably competitive but he still gives them heavy discounts so they can spread their budget around, that’d look more like 6 years/$225M.
A pitcher like King would be looking at maybe $25M a year 15-20 years ago and $30M a year 10-15 years ago and $35M a year 5-10 years ago.
In 2025-2026? That’d be $35M-$45M.
So even a discount rate on him that’s still competitive would be about $37.5M per season on any new contract that represents his big Peak Value Cash In His Chips Mega Contract and if it’s shorter term, like 3-4 years, it’d have to be at least $50M AAV to get him close to the floor of his value, etc.
That’s all hilarious.
How many pitchers get that sort of contract with ONE healthy and productive season out of six?
THANK YOU 69TH ROUNDER!!! Finally.
Thank you. My point exactly.
“How many pitchers get that sort of contract with ONE healthy and productive season out of six?” – vtadave
Too many.
a) what do you think he’ll actually likely receive?
b) I addressed what a 2-3 year contract would look like for him- it’s about the AAV more than anything.
c) Lots of players have deals that account for the fact that they’re often injured and when they’re not injured, they’re fantastic. Those deals tend to have some degree of a discount but aren’t exactly cut rate.
Just look at Byron Buxton, who, when healthy, should be worth $35M per season, but is often injured so he gets a little over $15M per season and he’s just an outfielder and a hitter- if he was a pitcher on the equivalent deal, he’d probably be making $25M per season.
Look at de Grom- deGrom can’t stay healthy and took a “discount” of $37M per season for 5 years.
Now, King doesn’t have the hype that deGrom did, but at 35 years old, deGrom got that 5 years/$185M deal.
Lets assume that a team assumes they’ll get between 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25 and 30 starts a year from King. That’s an average of 19 starts per year from King. I’ll even drop that down to 17 games per season assuming he gets extra rest/recuperation stints compared to other pitchers.
If he’d be worth $45M per year making 34 starts per season (which is generally the max number of games heavily used, durable starting pitchers make, often including 1-3 spot starts on short rest because of how crucial those games are) then at 17 games started on average, he’d be worth $22.5M per season.
Basically all that is to say there’s no world in which, unless he has a catastrophic injury before he signs his next contract, he’s not looking at a minimum of 5 years/$125M on a “I’m just glad someone offered me *something*” type of a deal and more realistically, he’ll get 6 years/$202.5M ($33.75M AAV) on a ‘happy middle ground’ deal between his top of market value and a team’s realistic considerations about his likely stints on the IL and the fact that he won’t hold up like a Verlander or a Randy Johnson, etc.
So, I don’t know what you think his market is, but anything below like 4 years/$135M is just a misunderstanding of the way pitchers are valued.
When Andrew Heaney, a journeyman borderline Quadruple-A spot starter, can get an average of almost $12M a year to be a 5th/6th starter, Michael King is worth 3-4x that- which would be $35M+ per season on any deal.
That’s a lot of words, but holy smokes are you thinking Michael King gets 6/202.5m?!?
I don’t think he would have gotten that rich of a deal with even a better 2025 then 2024.
His ceiling with the way 2025 played out is probably closer to the kind of deals Robbie Ray and Kevin Gausman signed as FA’s.
He seems primed to be one of this off-season free agents to take a 2 year deal with an opt-out after year 1.
I’ll go 2/55m.
Well, he’s a trillionaire. A $100M or two difference is only semantics to him.
I get it- guys around here are usually conservative in their contract guesstimating.
I think part of it is that they’re personally offended by the sheer volume of money.
I just look at the market, I look at comparable players and I make my guesstimations.
It ain’t my money.
I think plenty of guys are on deals that are too many guaranteed years at too high an AAV and vice versa, but for the most part, a player’s market range is self evident based on comparable players’ career numbers.
Maybe 4/110 with those opt outs after 2 and 3.
As a SD fan, I be ok there. Add a year at that AAV if it made him feel better.
He is more Lugo plus, than DeGrom in my mind with limited starting which is offset with injury.
There was only one deGrom of that caliber (his era’s elite) but there will be more similar to Michael King this year. A team misses on King they go after Gallen or Cease or Kelly (insert similar guys) on a shorter term deal and wait for next year.
I get that. I hear ya. I just don’t see him getting less than $30M AAV in today’s market.
It’s called being grounded in the realities of the market. You’re wildly over-inflating and incorrectly assessing King’s value. Data analysis isn’t your strong suit.
Are you an actual analysis inside of the MLB getting paid to create player valuations?
If not, data analysis isn’t your strong suit.
For whatever it’s worth I tend to accurately predict contracts, box office, actor salaries, real estate sales prices, etc.
This is literally the thing I do best.
Bro, if he’s asking for a Carlos Rodon contract, he’ll be settling for a Jordan Montgomery deal. Come back to earth.
There’s asking and there’s the market.
Spotrac guesstimates his current free agency market at essentially 4 years/$100M and that tends to be the median.
Remember when Patrick Corbin got 6 years/$140M off mediocre ERA just because he was an innings eater?
That was 7 years ago. That same kind of deal now would be like 6 years/$165M.
If a Corbin-level pitcher can secure 5+ years at $27.5M per season in this market, then a higher leverage pitcher who has way more value per pitch thrown, per inning completed, etc. then $27.5M would be that player’s *floor*.
I am thinking he gets 3yr/$60M with opt outs after each year. I’m thinking front loaded so ideally he opts out after a big 2026. Annually $25M/$20M/$15M
I just don’t see a world where a 2nd starter level starting pitcher gets under $30M per season for less than 4 seasons at King’s age.
So I’m wondering how accurate Spotrac is at estimating historically.
You say they have 4/100 and I said above 4/110 with opt outs and maybe a 5th year if necessary.
I do not see him getting 30 AAV unless it’s 1 or 2 year deal which could appeal to a team.
Spotract, like myself, tends to do median valuations. Meaning they must view his floor as being around $18M+ and his ceiling at $30M+, but again, they tend to be conservative guesstimators- like you guys.
Look, there’s a range for every player, for every position, for every market value- some guys projected to get 1 year/$10M get 8 years/$200M and vice versa.
You can’t predict these things.
Everybody in here is just speculating and whatever we firmly believe doesn’t matter one iota when free agency hits and players and team make the deals they wind up making/
Y’all can get as mad at me as you want, but you’re here for entertainment- this argument is entertainment.
None of it matters.
It’s like a cow’s opinion. A moo point.
Nobody is getting mad. We’re not children. There isn’t a single reputable source which predicts a 1/10 and the player gets 8/200 nor the inverse, ya silly goose.
TTO – I’m not mad. I really wanted feedback on historical accuracy of Spotrac since you brought it up. I’ve never cared enough about someone else’s money to do much research on the topic.
It’s all fun even if I think you are over pricing MK.
Appreciate you supplying the data.
That median of 25 is where I think he lands. Always a question of up or down based on number of years.
I hope he is a Padre for the next 4-5 years. They can afford 25 mil in 26 with Hosmer money, Suarez, Arreaz and of course MK money coming off the books with little to replace elsewhere.
Replying to both Jobu and Longtimecoming- It does seem as though guys around here wildly under value the market of players and the financials of the game and I do tend to over estimate a little, but I just look and think “if a guy like Andrew Heaney gets $5M on a come back deal and $13M on a good faith deal, then there’s no way a player people are as high on as they are King is getting less than double that and likely a bit more” and then I think if the market for him is competitive, those competitive bids will push his price up by multiple millions per season and by multiple seasons-
So a guy you guys might reasonably think will command 1-2 years at $15-$20M per year, I see that same guy as someone who will likely command 3-6 years at $30M-$35M per year. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.
Long- my guess is your number isn’t far off. 4/110 is probably is floor if he finishes healthy.
One big factor is how does he do in the playoffs. If the padres make the postseason which they likely will. If he pitches very well in the playoffs he could get a bigger deal.
I don’t see him getting more than 5/150.
So somewhere between 4/110 and 5/150 seems about right in today’s market.
Padres could afford him if they decide to dump most of their available money into a single starter. Though if the Padres sign him I’d expect a little longer deal to stretch out the aav. Maybe something like 7/140-160m.
Abby more than that and I expect him to go elsewhere.
There is a comment of mine before injury a few months ago at 5/150 back when there was talk of an early extension.
If he finishes healthy, regardless of what happens, I’d go there.
I also think 5 years/$150M is a reasonable projection for his eventual contract.
I still think that’s closer to his floor than his ceiling, though.
After reading all this it just has me playing the what if game. What if he made 33 starts, struck out 250 batters with a 2.00 era… would he have become the first 400m pitcher?!
TTO: more like 500m.
Depends on the years. And at his age if he made 34 starts with a 2.00 ERA and minimal losses on his personal record, I think he’d get maybe 8 years/$360M, maximum.
*Addendum:
That scenario of 8 years/$360M is like if multiple teams are all basically matching each other on like 5 years/$200M and then matching on upping it to 6 years/$240M and then 7 years/$287M etc. and then one team does what the Yankees did with Cole and Teixeira, etc. and add a year and an extra couple million per season just to get it done, even knowing that last year and those extra couple million won’t be worth it in the end, but those first few seasons might make it all worth it anyway, etc.
If there isn’t too much of a bidding war but his market is still robust, 7 years/$252M, maybe 7 years/$262.5M or something like that is his ceiling.
I am open to the higher number results of free agency, but I’m not delusional lol.
I like King. I really do. But you’re comparing him as if he’s Garret Crochet or Corbin Burnes hitting the open market.
You mean Garret Crochet who’s pitched in parts of 6 seasons, one of which he missed entirely, whose overall ERA is only 0.4 higher than King, whose career ERA is only 0.15 better than King?
You mean Corbin Burnes, whose career era is a full run more than King?
Using those two guys, King is basically them hitting the open market and they both got around $200M for 6-7 years.
So therefore, you are saying King is worth around $31.75M per season for 6 years, or about 6 years/$192M– but, but but their deals are each about a year old, so gotta tack on some of that sweet inflation and the Player’s Union Mandate that comparable free agents try to best previous contracts by a couple million to prevent salaries from stagnating for the next crop of free agents, therefore King should be looking for and should get around 6 years/$178.5M to 6 years/$220.5M…
Yeah, that sounds right.
I think you’re all overthinking this. My guess is that with a down, injury filled down year, Preller and King (his agent) make a deal. One year extension at maybe $14-$18M, with options ($18M?, $20M?) for years 2 & 3.
King gets paid for 2026, hedges his bets, is set for either a big, multi-year payday in 2027, or is set for life if things don’t work out well over the next 2-3 years. At age 31 next year; it’s the smart move to make.
One would think that King is too unproven (i.e. 180 inning per year starter) to draw a multi-year, $150M to $200M contract. Then on the other hand, I think this is really his first injury-problem year, and a bum knee and a shoulder nerve problem aren’t considered major injuries.. He hasn’t been a “glass” pitcher, so who knows. Maybe he gets a big money contract.
I’d put money on the option contract over a big money, long term deal popping up. Then consider a guy like Cease. He posts, but he’s also Mr. almost Cy Young, with Snell like hot and cold cycles. He’s 30 years old next year. Snell picked up a $182M over 5 years, but compare his 10-year history of accomplishment to either Cease or King.
I think both Cease and King will have to take short term, option laden contracts, or be limited to something like 5-6 years, $110M based on their performance. Cease will make more, because he’s been a regular 180 inning per year pitcher. But, baseball is crazy, so who knows?
I appreciate your thinking, but he already has a $15M mutual option for 2026 that the club would certainly pick up under virtually any circumstance at this point, given his potential market value and if he was truly that worried about how his market has been impacted, he’d gladly also pick up that option to guarantee himself the income, which would likely be equivalent to any kind of pillow contract he’d be looking at on the open market.
The 2nd, 3rd year options are the guarantee that would convince him to sign. The Pads can’t compel him not to go F/A. A one year, $15M option year won’t guarantee him anything in ’27 & ’28. He could be out of baseball.
What do you keep moving the goalpost of the original position you’re attempting to poorly defend?
Talking to me, Jobu?
I’m not moving any goal post.
I already said his floor was a $30M AAV and 5 years-his *floor*.
And that $15M option is there. If he falls apart and wouldn’t be worth anything on the open market it’s there.
6 years/$200M or 7 years/$220M is still over $30M AAV.
I couldn’t even imagine being moderately invested in this conversation. Why are people so obsessed in what kind of contract an injured pitcher will get.
Does anyone care about baseball anymore?
In all seriousness, I don’t know what it is.
In my humble opinion, it is people projecting their own principles, insecurities and life experience/personal context onto baseball.
Story Time (I’ll try to keep it very short and sweet): I grew up in an area that had extreme poverty and extreme wealth. I knew kids whose families lived 5 people packed into a small one bedroom apartment in the worst part of town and I knew kids in gated communities who lived in $10M+ houses. I hung out in the ghetto with ski masked dealers roaming at night and I went to MTV Super Sweet 16’s where the kid was given a Ferrari or Lamborghini at the end of the night. I knew kids for whom the idea of making $100k a year before taxes made you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams and kids who thought anybody that made less than $10 million a year was basically dirt poor.
It’s all relative.
I assume people bring their personal experiences and perspectives to the contract/money stuff and project their world view onto what is a reasonable or unreasonable deal/salary.
Hence why some guys around here are personally offended when we lament a guy taking 8 years/$100M pre-arbitration and potentially leaving $100M on the table, because to them even the league minimum of $760k is more money than they think they’d know what to do with.
It’s all relative and I think we project our life experiences and personal sensitivities onto these contract speculations.
@Soto this is a very contract-heavy baseball website lol. There are plenty of forums dedicated to more game-specific conversations if you want them.
King’s performance is not the issue at all, he has done enough to prove he is worth a 6/150 or 6/200 contract. The problem is the nerve injury in his shoulder. They tried to pass that off as “he slept on it wrong” but a nerve in the shoulder that requires 3 months to get right will have the majority of teams thinking he eventually needs Thoracic Outlet Surgery. It’s nearly a guaranteed career ending ordeal. For that reason I think a 4/100 with a couple opt outs is the absolute best he could ever dream of. 3/100 with a couple of mutual options probably turns several teams into takers.
I feel bad he’s gonna get clobbered by the reds… oh well
That should give us two viable starting pitchers.
The Fermin trade is a tough one to swallow. This team has spent years building their rotation without any young controllable talent and they gave away not one but two that could’ve changed that. Even as back of the rotation guys Kolek and Bergert could’ve solidified things and let them go spend on a headliner in free agency.
Free Agent X + Musgrove + Pivetta + Darvish + Bergert + Kolek for 2026 would’ve been pretty formidable
99 – at 4 more years of control, coaches race on him, 2.2 WAR (so far) for a Catcher and you are complaint about losing 2 BOR guys (one was just a Rule 5 pick up – great investment, and the other was as recently as 2024 looking like a washout.
Think of how many BOR options are out there in FA as opposed to cheap controlled C with 3+ WAR?
Projecting 2026: King or similar, Pivetta, Joe, Yu, and a BOR vet to he acquired cheap / prove it guy (Buehler, etc.) Maybe even a Merrill Kelly type.
Still leaves, Vazquez, Sears, Waldron, Gillespie (being stretched out), and a host of new guys for those filler innings.
What would Kolek and Bergert do for for the MLB team more than Fermin will do in this likely scenario?
Of course, injuries but that is always there and without the trade, Candy man is still walking out grounders.
Miller has already said he would like to be stretched out and Preller and Shildt talked before the season about the possibility of stretching out Morejon. The Padres will have plenty of options at the back of the rotation.
Sears, Waldron & Gillespie can’t pitch themselves out of a paper bag. Vasquez is the only legitimate option to make starts of the names you listed.
Bergert & Kolek have a full point more combined WAR than Fermin in 2025.
Your argument seems to be that finding MLB level starting pitching depth is easier than finding a replacement level catcher.
I’d politely disagree….
99 – not a “replacement level” catcher but a solid young cheap controllable catcher that has already accumulated 2.1 WAR ((which by definition is NOT a replacement level).
I don’t like using WAR to compare different positions so just the amount is not the point. Also, there is no scenario where Bergert and Kolek would be in the rotation at the same time right now or likely 2026, so combining them against Freddy isn’t really a fair measure.
As for your assessment of the arms that I mentioned, I’ll say that in 2024 you would have said the same for Bergert (horrible in minor league) and Kolek (rule 5).
There is no argument to be made that SD needed a producing C really bad and had a little bit of back end rotation depth to trade from.
Pivetta, King, Darvish, Cease and Vasquez – where do Kolek and Bergert fit?
Playoffs – even less likley they make the roster.
Oh, but pencil in Freddy most every day and he is helping the mlb club right now.
There is a little bit of “going for it” in that trade. Also, C for 2026.
Realmuto is about all on the FA market and he is t really the option in SD.
You also fail to allow for what Freddy might bring back in trade when Salas takes the starter job whether 26 or 27.
The trade is not fairly evaluated on 7/31/25.
99, Using WAR to measure different positions is hard especially in this case because WAR is a counting stat. The more you play, the higher your possible WAR.
Comparing each to others that play their position makes far more sense.
Fermin is 16th in bWAR among players whose primary position is catcher. His 2.2 bWAR is above average for all position players. He is a FAR above replacement level player.
Remember, he was a backup 2/3 of the season in KC. It wasn’t until he got to SD that he started to play in most games. If he had played the same amount in KC as he has in SD, his WAR would be at least 1 WAR higher. That is significant. That places him in the top 10 for players whose primary position is catcher.
Bergert and Kolek combined are 32nd in WAR among SP. In other words, add them up and they are 32nd. Neither by themselves is in the top 75.
Finding a 2+ WAR catcher either in FA or in trade is much, much, much, much, MUCH harder than finding a back of the rotation starter. Finding a 3+ WAR catcher is nearly impossible.
As far as next season’s rotation, the Padres have Musgrove coming back, Darvish, Pivetta, Vasquez and a large number of other pitchers to fill the #5 slot, AND they have an offseason to find another pitcher to slot into the slot left by Cease and King.
I think that the Padres did just fine and filled the much more difficult to fill position for the next 4 seasons with Fermin.
LTC, I made a long answer, and you had handled it pretty well already. I should have scrolled down further.
Yu might say the return of the King is right in the Nick of time. (See what I did there?) hahaha
Go Pads!
I’ll be sending you a Cease and desist for that joke
C’mon @choof, have a Hart.
All the estimators cluster in the 3.3–3.9 range, so even if regression hits, he’s still solidly above average. His FRA is trending in the wrong direction so we might be seeing the last few decent seasons from him before he becomes fodder, though.
What about JOE KING ??
Misread the headline as “excited to activate Michael King”, I was just like “good for them, I guess”
In this year of attrition, the last man standing gets to grab the great big bag of gold.
King is back just in the nick of time!
Padres need the Michael King from 2024 badly to stabilize
their rotation and still have a chance to win the Division over the Dodgers,
Padres will likely play in the wild card round. Having Pivetta and hopefully a healthy king gives them a real shot to get through a wild card series. With Darvish capable of pitching a game 3 if needed.
Gets a little dicey in a longer series having to rely on Cease.
With all the days off in the playoffs the padres pitching should be fine given the pen will be heavily used.
Tell Cease to go all out for 3 innings and BP from there.
Cease is fine.
His ERA is misleading.
He has has some bad luck and non support, at times, when he pitches.
Cease’s s personal stats were better tha last few years.
Cease is a good innings eater.
Some baseball experts did a “deep dive” on Cease’s stats and concluded that his ERA and win loss recorded was not representative of his overall pitching stats and performance
They stated that lots of teams will be bidding on Cease in free agency and that the man is going to get paid generously.
Teams were lining up at the deadline with offers for Cease.
Preller decided that the Padres were a better team with both Cease and Suarez finishing the year in SD.
You’re correct and the stat is FIP. It’s 3.63 this season.
For his career, Cease has a 3.89 ERA and a 3.68 FIP. Jack Flaherty in Detroit is going through the same thing this season.
Huge pickup as October is right around the corner. Always great to get an arm back. Now go chase down those dodgers
No rehab= 2 IP. 5 runs
Told ya.
Ex-Yankee pitchers burn out, ex-Red Sox pitchers lead staffs.
I hope the Yankees re-sign him to like 3 years/$105M and then if that goes remotely well, tack on a year at $25M or something, etc.
Problem is the Padres would surely offer him that as well, one is the team that traded him and the other isn’t.
Would be swell if he returned and then came back to do good things v Mets in the playoffs. Which would make him King of Queens