Royals Acquire Trevor Cahill and Brandon Maurer: Fantasy impact

The Royals quietly added a starting and relief pitcher Monday night by trading for Trevor Cahill and Brandon Maurer. What is the fantasy baseball impact?

The Kansas City Royals traded for a nice group of San Diego Padres pitchers Monday night as they make a run for the American League Central lead and postseason appearance. With a subpar back-end of the rotation and inconsistent closer, the Royals needed some help.

They traded for starter Trevor Cahill and relievers Brandon Maurer and Ryan Butcher in exchange for Matt Strahm, Travis Wood and infield prospect Esteury Ruiz, as first reported by Robert Murray of Fan Rag.

This move creates a ripple effect in fantasy baseball for both teams. The Royals now have competition in their closer role and a better No. 4 starting pitcher. The Padres will have a new reliever in the ninth inning and an open spot in their rotation.

Let’s start with the contending team. The Royals started the season with Kelvin Herrera as their closer after they traded Wade Davis to the Chicago Cubs.

As of this post, Herrera has a 4.38 ERA, 1.231 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 20 saves. As the set-up man last season, he posted a 2.75 ERA, 0.958 WHIP, 10.8 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 with 12 saves.

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Maurer has been undervalued in the fantasy world as a closer. While the Padres haven’t been giving him many save chances, he is a serviceable reliever in deeper leagues. He has a 5.72 ERA, 1.195 WHIP, 8.7 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 20 saves. He also has a 3.22 FIP, so we could see some regression in his ERA in the final two months.

Maurer is owned in 39.6 percent of ESPN leagues. He lost 1.7 percent ownership over the last week and I expect that to drop some more. However, if you are looking for holds, strikeouts or an extra save or two, he is someone to target.

Kauffman Field ranks 28th in home runs according to ESPN Park Factors. I think Maurer pitches as the set-up man behind Herrera but he could record a save or two each week.

Cahill is back in a starting rotation for the first time in three seasons. He’s surprised a lot of people so far this year. In 11 starts, he has a 3.69 ERA, 1.344 WHIP, 10.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. His 4-3 record is based on the lack of run support from his former offense. He allowed 0.9 HR/9 which will continue to drop with the move to Kansas City.

Cahill is also widely available. He will make his next start on the road against the Boston Red Sox on June 29. That could be a trap game so I would wait until after that start before adding him.

Moving over to San Diego, moving on from these players give others more opportunity. Reliever Brad Hand gains the most from this move. He is now the top candidate to take over the Padres closer role.

For the season, Hand has a 2.12 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 11.6 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, three saves and 16 holds. He is owned in just 17.4 percent of leagues. So with few closers on the waiver wire, Hand is the top waiver candidate to spend your free agent budget on.

With the Padres continue to sell, Hand himself could be traded by next Monday. Depending on where he goes and if he stays a closer or not will determine his value for the rest of the season.

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Even though the names involved aren’t at the top of the superstar spectrum, this trade still has a lot of fantasy baseball impact. Maurer still has some value while Hand’s increases. Cahill will continue his bounce back season in Kansas City and should be added as well.

There are just six days left until the trade deadline. The final two months of the season should be interesting.

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