Royals right-handed reliever Brandon Maurer has elected to become a free agent instead of accepting an outright assignment to Class AAA Omaha.
Maurer went 0-4 with a 7.76 ERA in 37 appearances for the Royals in 2018. He arrived in Kansas City in July 2017 in a trade with the Padres that also brought pitchers Ryan Buchter and Trevor Cahill.
The Royals were in the playoff hunt at the time, but the trade, that sent Matt Strahm among others to San Diego, didn’t pay off.
Maurer was 2-2 with an 8.10 ERA in 26 games for the Royals in 2017.