Marlins get their veteran lefty, signing John King to 1-year deal

For the second time this week, the Miami Marlins have bolstered their pitching depth via free agency. They reached a one-year deal with right-handed starter Chris Paddack on Monday, followed by another one-year deal with left-handed reliever John King on Wednesday afternoon. King is guaranteed $1.5 million. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the contract details, though the Marlins have not announced it yet.

King, 31, has split his major league career between the Texas Rangers (2020-2023) and St. Louis Cardinals (2023-2025), with practically identical workloads for each franchise in terms of innings pitched. Across 214 total appearances (all of them in relief), he owns a career 3.80 ERA and 4.04 FIP, never issuing more than 14 walks in a single season. He doesn't have any postseason experience.

King's command is particularly sharp against left-handed batters, issuing walks to them at only a 4.4% rate in his career (1.9 BB% in 2025). He's a welcome addition to a Marlins team that ranked 30th in Major League Baseball last season with only 98 relief appearances from lefties.

Why was King still on the market this deep into February? He performed poorly in 2025, allowing a lot of hard contact, particularly against his sinker. A career-high eight home runs by his opponents contributed to a 4.66 ERA and 5.00 FIP.

The Cardinals non-tendered King rather than pay him a projected $2.1 million via arbitration. Entering this season with four years and 148 days of MLB service time, he'll be arbitration-eligible again in 2027, so the Marlins can turn this one-year deal into two years of club control if they're satisfied with how he performs.

Accommodating Paddack on the Marlins 40-man roster seemed simple enough now that Ronny Henriquez (right UCL surgery) is eligible to be placed on the 60-day injured list. With no other major league players known to be suffering from significant injuries, making room for King will require designating somebody for assignment.

The Paddack signing is expected to be made official on Thursday.