After a 7.89 ERA over two seasons, Brandon Maurer is no longer a Royal

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.

The Royals announced several other moves on Friday.

Outfielder Paulo Orlando and infielder Ramon Torres were sent outright to Class AAA and will become minor-league free agents.

Three others have been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list: infielder Cheslor Cuthbert, outfielder Jorge Soler and right-handed pitcher Jesse Hahn.

The Royals have 37 players on their major-league roster.

Blair Kerkhoff

Blair Kerkhoff covers the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and college sports for The Star.