Trade Idea Sees Yankees Ship Out Star Prospect To Reunite With San Diego Padres Ace

The New York Yankees are up against it when it comes to their starting rotation.

Not only is Gerrit Cole out for all of the 2025 season because of Tommy John surgery, but Luis Gil will also miss a good portion at the start of the year with his own arm injury.

Will Warren is seen as a likely replacement, filling into the back of the rotation behind Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman. But there are major question marks that come with this group of five.

Not only is Warren unproven in the Majors, but Schmidt has had his own injury concerns, Rodon has been inconsistent at best since joining the Yankees and Stroman hasn't had a good spring after coming into camp disgruntled.

New York needs another starter, and even though general manager Brian Cashman shut down the notion they're going to pursue outside options, if this organization wants to compete for a championship this year, they need to make an aggressive move.

Rucker Haringey of FanSided floated a blockbuster trade idea that would fit the bill, proposing the Yankees ship out their top prospect Jasson Dominguez to the San Diego Padres to reunite with their former pitcher Michael King.

"Bringing Michael King back to the Bronx is one interesting possibility," he wrote.

That would be an fascinating move.

Salary is at the forefront of Cashman's mind right now, so acquiring the reliever-turned-starter in a potential deal would actually fit into his constraints since King signed a creative extension with the Padres this winter that pays him just $4 million this year -- $1 million in base salary and a $3 million signing bonus.

King would be a huge addition to this rotation as currently constructed.

Last season, his first as a starting pitcher, he posted a 2.95 ERA and 139 ERA+ across his 31 appearances and 30 starts, striking out 201 batters in 173.2 innings pitched.

He would immediately vault to the top of the rotation, sitting behind Fried to form a solid one-two punch that would allow Rodon to move into the third spot to break up the left-handers.

Giving up Dominguez would be tough, and it's not known if San Diego would be willing to do a one-for-one swap, but in the limited action the star prospect has had in the MLB, he hasn't necessarily showed that he's going to be a gamechanger for the Yankees like he was billed to be coming up the pipeline.

At just 22 years old, it's still too early to make any sort of proclamation about his career, but with a plethora of promising outfield prospects who also are knocking on the door of the Majors, Dominguez is now a bit more expendable.

The likelihood of something like this getting done is slim.

Cashman flat out said they are going to lean on their internal options at this point in time.

But if New York changes their mind, pursuing a reunion with their former pitcher should be something they look into.

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