Padres predicted to make obvious Michael King decision after postseason heroics

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The San Diego Padres have a lot of interesting questions to answer this offseason, especially when it comes to their starting rotation.

Michael King, Case Mize, Robbie Ray, and Nick Pivetta are all set to hit the open market, so long as King opts out of his $58 million contract this offseason. But even if he does, the Padres can bring him back on a new multi-year deal.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter is predicting that the Padres will re-sign King this offseason in what should be an obvious outcome following his postseason heroics for San Diego this year.

Padres predicted to make obvious decision and re-sign Michael King

"King can opt out of his final two years and $58 million of his contract this winter. He almost certainly will since he would immediately slot in as the No. 2 starter on the market behind Tarik Skubal," Reuter writes.

With a really good chance for King to land a massive contract this offseason, King seems like a lock to hit the open market by opting out of his current contract.

For the Padres, this presents a bit of a problem. If he hits free agency, which looks likely, he'll have a real chance to land a massive contract from another contender.

But there should not be any question for the Padres this offseason. As Reuter predicts, the Padres should re-sign King this winter, which would be an obvious outcome following his heroics in the postseason.

In three games in the postseason this year, one of which was a relief appearance on one day's rest after a Game 2 start, King had a 0.64 ERA with one win, one save, and 15 strikeouts in 14 innings of work.

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The veteran right-hander had a 3.21 ERA during the regular season, in which he posted 4.3 bWAR, the best mark of his MLB career so far.

King will be 32 years old next season, and as Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicted, King "should have no problem whatsoever fetching nine figures on a five-year deal."

That means $100 million over five years is the minimum for King in Miller's mind, which, all things considered, wouldn't be a bad deal for the Padres; that's how good King was this year.

After an impressive postseason performance for the Padres, signing King to a long-term deal is an obvious decision the Padres should make. Reuter is predicting that's exactly what will happen, as he's predicting King re-signs with the Padres this offseason.