The Kansas City Royals traded for Brandon Maurer last year during the July trade deadline. He was part of the five-player trade sent Matt Straham and Travis Wood to the San Diego Padres and Trevor Cahill, Ryan Buchter, and Maurer to Kansas City.
When the Royals made this trade, they were hoping for some bullpen stability as they pushed for one last playoff run.
At that point, the Royals were 44-43 and just three games behind Cleveland for the division lead. They were also just a game behind for the second Wild Card spot.