Kansas City Royals: What went wrong in 2017 season

WHAT WENT WRONG IN 2017 – TRADES DID NOT WORK OUT WELL

I’m not angry at Dayton Moore for going for it this year, not at all. I thought I’d lead with that, as this slide isn’t going to be the kindest on the trades he made.

The Melky Cabrera trade worked out okay, as Cabrera did what he was supposed to do with this ball club. The Royals needed a bat and Cabrera was a bat for them. It’s just a shame it didn’t lead to a postseason berth.

Since we already discussed the Wade Davis trade, we can now get to the other bad trade. Thatbad trade was the one made with the San Diego Padres. Kansas City appeared to be the winners at the time, as they got rid of Travis Wood and brought in three Padres pitchers in Ryan Buchter, Trevor Cahill, and Brandon Maurer.

Dayton Moore made the right move here by going for it, and it was a trade that appeared to favor the Royals at the time.

Buchter was decent, but Cahill and Maurer were utter disasters. Cahill had three starts before he was sent to the bullpen for good, as he compiled a nasty 8.22 ERA in ten total appearances. He threw 23 innings in Kansas City.

Maurer, who had recorded 20 saves with the Padres before being traded, was just as awful, but we unfortunately got to see him pitch in more games than Cahill. Maurer ended his 2017 campaign with the Royals with an 8.10 ERA and two saves in 26 games and 20 innings thrown.

The Royals made the decision to go for it with this move and it didn’t work out, but you can’t blame Dayton Moore for being ballsy here. Buchter and Maurer are under contract past this season and the hope is that Maurer can rebound and become a closer for the team. Cahill is a free agent and likely won’t be re-signing here.

Dayton Moore made the right move here by going for it, and it was a trade that appeared to favor the Royals at the time. If Matt Strahm, who was also sent to San Diego in the deal, ends up being an All-Star starting pitcher, however, this one could hurt for a long time.