Danny Farquhar came to the Rays from Seattle as a secondary piece in the Brad Miller - Nathan Karns trade. He was targeted as a potential rebound candidate who would hopefully strengthen a Rays bullpen that could charitably be described as a question mark after trading away Jake McGee and, in spring training, losing Brad Boxberger to injury.
The Rays saw a young guy who had enjoyed previous success at the back end of the bullpen as he had put up a 3.34 ERA and 2.42 FIP over 126.2 innings in 2013 and 2014. He had picked up 17 saves and struck out 30.