Michael King’s opt-out didn’t just shake San Diego, it handed the Milwaukee Brewers a playbook for Brandon Woodruff’s winter.
The Milwaukee Brewers don’t have to squint to see where this is headed. As soon as the San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King became the first player to decline a mutual option this offseason, the shape of Brandon Woodruff’s winter came into focus for Milwaukee. Different uniforms, same math: premium stuff, truncated workloads, recent medical files that make long-term guarantees hard to swallow, and just enough late-season performance to convince a bidding team that the upside is worth the dance.