Angels can prove they're serious about spending by making Michael King their top target

One hallmark of the stongest big-market teams is the presence of a 1A and 1B in the starting rotation. Look no further than Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with the Dodgers, Cam Schlittler and Max Fried with the Yankees, and Sonny Gray and Payton Tolle with the Red Sox as examples from this year. The Los Angeles Angels have a true ace (finally) in Reid Detmers, but he needs a running mate.

Looking at the free-agent market, a logical solution could be San Diego Padres right-hander Michael King. The 31-year-old does have a bit of a checkered injury history, which can cause his talent to be overlooked. Make no mistake, when he's healthy, he's one of the best pitchers in the game.

King was healthy in 2026, making 32 starts, throwing 185 innings, and posting a 3.21 ERA. King could choose to return to the Padres by exercising a player option that would pay him $34 million in 2027, but after being forced to settle for a three-year, $75 million contract with opt-outs due to his injury history during his last pass through free agency, it's likely that he will capitalize on his stellar year and test the market to bring him a lucrative long-term deal.

That's what Bleacher Report thinks will happen, projecting King to land a five-year deal in the nine-figure range. They also believe that the Angels could be a potential landing spot, which means Los Angeles would have to prove it's serious about spending and pony up, and they absolutely should.

Michael King would give the Angels much more than just a running mate for Reid Detmers atop the rotation

For a while down the stretch, Los Angeles' young rotation looked as if the entire unit was breaking out, not just Detmers. Now, if we're being honest, we can say that Walbert Urena looks like a future building block, but the jury is still out on guys like Ryan Johnson and George Klassen.

Signing King would give the Halos a high-end veteran to slot in between Detmers and Urena, while buying the club a bit more time to figure out if either or both Johnson and Klassen are worthy of being here for the long term.

That's not all King would offer. The Angels are trying to turn the page on over a decade of futility. So while all young players need to learn how to win, the Halos franchise icon, Mike Trout, hasn't had much experience in that department either. Bringing in a veteran like King, who owns a 1.86 career postseason ERA and has played in high-pressure environments like San Diego and especially New York with the Yankees, would give Los Angeles the type of veteran mentor the roster needs.

While it ultimately fizzled shortly after, King saved the Padres' season by filling in for the absent Mason Miller with a dramatic two-inning save in Game 3 of the NLDS. That gutsy performance came just two days after he turned in a solid performance as the Game 2 starter.

Adding a player with that sort of clutch resume in October would have an outsized impact on the entire team, not just the rotation. The Angels want to win, and part of that means acquiring winning players. Talent matters, of course, but guts are really important, too. Michael King has both, and by spending big on him this offseason, the Angels can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're committed to winning and willing to open the checkbook to make that happen.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow