Maurer, Buchter & Cahill’s San Diego Careers Come to an End
Credit: Royals
A.J. Preller and the Padres traded pitchers Trevor Cahill, Ryan Buchter, and Brandon Maurer to the Kansas City Royals for Matt Strahm, Travis Wood, and Esteury Ruiz.
Many Padres fans probably do not like the deal because they really liked Cahill, Buchter, and Maurer, because they were solid pitchers on the major league club. If you are following the Padres more than just the casual fan, then you may like this trade because it sticks with the plan that Preller originally went with, which is building for the future.
I know a person who liked this deal, and that was Andy Green. Andy said, “We’re excited about the prospects and some of the guys we got back even though a couple of them won’t play this year, but we see high upside.”
Andy likes this deal because he knows what Preller is doing and he knows that this will be better for this team in the future.
What fans are going to miss are the major league pitchers that the Padres had currently in the show. Cahill was the third starter in the rotation with Buchter and Maurer as the seventh and ninth inning guys respectively.
Trevor Cahill came over from Chicago as a free agent before spring training to be a starter in this rotation. He got the third spot in the rotation and was a decent arm that ate up some innings. This season was the only one that Cahill was on the Padres for. In 11 starts and 61 innings pitched, Cahill was 4-3, with a 3.69 ERA, and 72 strikeouts.
Ryan Buchter was in San Diego for the 2016 and 2017 season. In 2016, Buchter went 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in 63 innings. This season, Ryan, in 42 games and 38.1 innings, had a 3.05 ERA with an opponent batting average of .199.
Probably the most beloved of the three that got traded to Kansas City was former Padres closer, Brandon Maurer. Maurer was in San Diego for three seasons, but didn’t become the closer until this season. This year, I believe Maurer’s personality really came through, and he came out each and every appearance to throw gas and strike everyone out. This season, Maurer appeared in 42 games, pitching 39.1 innings, had a 5.72 ERA, and had 20 saves.
Trevor Cahill, Ryan Buchter, and Brandon Maurer will be dearly missed, and just because the casual Padres fan won’t like this trade at the moment does not mean that they won’t like it in the future.
I am a die-hard Padres fan and season ticket holder. I am obsessed with baseball and have been a Padre fan my whole life. I want to become a baseball writer when I grow up. Go Padres!