Kansas City Royals: Trade with Padres looking like total disaster

The Kansas City Royals showed they were going for it this year when they made a big trade with the San Diego Padres to acquire three pitchers. To this point, the trade has not looked all that great.

Just a few weeks ago, Kansas City Royals fans were pumped! Their team got as far away from Travis Wood as possible by sending him to San Diego and they also traded away Matt Strahm and an 18 year old infielder in order to acquire three pitchers.

These pitchers were Ryan Buchter, Trevor Cahill, and Brandon Maurer. Buchter and Maurer were going to be instant help in the bullpen and Cahill was going to fill in as that fifth starter in the rotation.

The trade has not gone well for the Kansas City Royals. In fact, to put it bluntly, this trade has blown major chunks so far.

Cahill, who was needed to fill in at the back end of the rotation, is currently sporting an 8.18 ERA in three starts for the Royals. He’s only pitched 11 innings during his short time in Kansas City and has been shelled for ten runs during that time.

To put it into perspective, Cahill had thrown in 61 innings for the Padres and given up 29 runs total. He also had a 3.69 ERA in San Diego, which is why acquiring him was very appealing to Royals fans.  Cahill now has landed on the disabled list with right shoulder impingement syndrome, which only adds to the list of frustrations for him in this trade.

As for the two relievers acquired in this trade, they’ve been just as disappointing. Maurer’s ERA in San Diego wasn’t all that eye pleasing, but his 20 saves made up for it and gave Royals fans confidence that if Kelvin Herrera was unavailable, then Maurer could easily slide into the closer role.

Instead, Maurer has been awful. He, like Cahill, has an ERA over eight (8.10 to be exact) and has walked six batters in just 6.2 innings of work. That is not good. He’s given up six runs as well during his few outings.

More from Kansas City Royals

• This Plus-Money Bobby Witt Jr. Prop Bet is on Fire (Hit in 15/21 Games)!
• The Royals Need to Extend Bobby Witt Jr. Immediately
• DraftKings + FanDuel Kansas Promos: INSTANT $150 Bonus Plus Two Chances to Win!
• 3 Royals Players Who Won’t Be on the Roster Next Year
• LAST CHANCE to Claim $250 GUARANTEED Bonus With FanDuel and DraftKings Kansas Promos!

Buchter has appeared in 6.1 innings so far and has a 5.68 ERA, which actually looks nice compared to the other two guys’ numbers. Buchter has given up four runs so far and is another arm out of the pen that makes fans nervous whenever he runs out of the gates.

At this point, no one in the Kansas City Royals’ bullpen provides any comfort whatsoever, but Buchter and Maurer not pitching well is really concerning. Dayton Moore brought these two to Kansas City so that the Royals would have a solid bullpen and that just isn’t happening.

Cahill has been a total disaster and now is on the disabled list. He’s been so bad that the team is probably going to have to go out and find another starter despite the trade deadline being long over with.

Hopefully the Kansas City Royals can get back to their winning ways here pretty soon because it’d be a real shame to have given up Matt Strahm for three pitchers who can’t get guys out. Not all trades are going to work, but this one could really, really sting down the stretch if Strahm turns into something.

The good news, however, is that the KC Royals are still very much in the playoff hunt, so there is something for fans to hang their hats on… even if it is pretty depressing to root for this team right now.