TAMPA, Fla. — The New York Yankees didn’t want to do it. As they worked with the San Diego Padres on permutations of the trade that would eventually net them star right fielder Juan Soto, they tried clutching onto Michael King, who had been so valuable to them in so many ways in recent years.

The problem: The Padres dreamed of the right-hander becoming a potentially high-impact, low-cost member of their paper-thin rotation. Eventually, the Yankees acquiesced and sent King packing.

So, what’s their plan to replace him?

“I don’t know,” manager Aaron Boone said not long after spring training began.

King, 28, was projected to be part of the Yankees’ rotation. They have enough to cover his spot — even as Blake Snell rumors persist, regardless of how unlikely it is a deal happens.

But perhaps the biggest place where the Yankees will feel King’s absence will be in the bullpen, where they deployed him as a multi-inning threat, capable of halting rallies or finishing games. In 26 of his 40 relief appearances last season, he worked four outs or more.

In fact, King’s contributions extended further. In 2022, he pitched to a 2.29 ERA in 34 appearances before breaking his elbow while throwing a slider vs. the Orioles in late July. The injury ended his season.

He came back just as strong in 2023. In 41 games before joining the rotation for good, he had a 3.26 ERA. While King took off as starter (1.88 ERA, 8 starts) to end the year, there were going to be questions of how they would replace him in the bullpen this season regardless. And that was before they included bulk arms Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito in the deal for Soto. (The Yankees also sent catcher Kyle Higashioka and prospect Drew Thorpe to San Diego.)

“That’s a tough one to replace,” reliever Ron Marinaccio said. “To have someone that has a true starter pitch package, who truly could stay in the game as long as you need him to — it’s not like him seeing a batter the second time through is going to be much different than the first time for him. He can just give them a different look. And also the ability to just be a true lockdown seventh- or eighth-inning or ninth-inning guy if he needs to. He had that next gear if he needed to run it up to 98 mph if he needed to. It’s impressive.”

In January, the ZiPS projection system forecast the Yankees’ bullpen at 2.6 fWAR in 2024 — down from the 4.2 projection it had heading into 2023. That was before the Yankees acquired lefty Caleb Ferguson (ZiPS-projected 0.7 fWAR) from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The bullpen appears to have plenty of upside, especially in the back end with the proven Clay Holmes (2.86 ERA, 66 games). But fellow late-inning candidates Tommy Kahnle (2.66 ERA, 42 games) and Jonathan Loaisiga (3.06 ERA, 17 games) each were injured for large swaths of last season. And while Boone has championed the depth of the team’s non-roster invitee list, the team figures to cycle through arms in late spring and early in the regular season until they find a middle-innings crew that sticks.

Boone had an early suggestion for who could fill King’s role: Righty Ian Hamilton.

“Those are the conversations we’re having now,” the manager said. “Who do we want to build up in that one-plus, two(-inning role)? Kinger is a little bit of a unicorn in that we were going sometimes three (innings), 50 pitches in high leverage when it was his day.

“I don’t know if we’ll get anyone built up to that level.”

Hamilton, 28, was a revelation for the Yankees last year. In 39 appearances, he had a 2.64 ERA, striking out 10.7 batters per nine innings while walking 4.0. It was the most games he’d thrown in the majors since he appeared in 10 contests in 2018 for the Chicago White Sox. Last season, Hamilton worked at least four outs 20 times.

Hamilton said the Yankees haven’t told him to expect any particular role this season.

“Whatever will keep me in the bullpen or anything,” he said. “Probably similar to last year. Just be ready for whatever and get some outs whenever that is.”

Hamilton said the role King held “was not easy.”

“Especially doing that damn near every time there’s no one out and with runners on,” he said. “He’s a big dude, and those are big shoes to fill. I don’t think you can replace him, but you can definitely try to fill other roles, and see who can fit roles the best.”

Boone also mentioned that righties Luke Weaver and Loaisiga and lefty Ferguson each could work multi-inning roles. The Yankees have discussed using Loaisiga in extended relief appearances and on a semi-schedule to keep him healthy.

“Hopefully,” Boone said, “we develop one-plus or two options.”

Right now, the Yankees can’t do much more than hope to figure it out, considering how important King had become to them.