included closer Jhoan Duran going to Philadelphia<\/a>.<\/p>\nIn the aftermath, players took stock Friday as they returned to action for the first time in nearly 48 hours. Shortly after delivering another good pitching performance in a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in 10 innings, Ryan admitted thinking he wouldn\u2019t even be in a Twins uniform after an erroneous report temporarily left him thinking he\u2019d been traded to the Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n
\u201cI obviously thought I got traded for several minutes,\u201d Ryan said after allowing two earned runs in six innings at Progressive Field. \u201cThen I was like, \u2018Is this going to happen? What\u2019s the deal?\u2019 That was a weird mix of emotions. I was with Griffin during that. It was just weird. Then he didn\u2019t think he was going to get traded, and he got traded, and I didn\u2019t. \u2026 It\u2019s been a whirlwind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some in the visiting clubhouse recounted how they spent their wild day, noting multiple groups of players watched the events unfold together at the team hotel. Others, many fresh faces having just arrived to replace those who\u2019d been traded, started the process of acclimating to a new clubhouse full of unfamiliar teammates. And then there were a few who admitted they\u2019re still trying to process what happened as the Twins\u2019 front office embarked on one of the busiest days at the trade deadline in baseball history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got to be historic, right?\u201d said third baseman Royce Lewis, who spent Thursday at home before flying later that night. \u201cPretty unique situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scene was so surreal that Twins president Derek Falvey and general manager Jeremy Zoll flew to Cleveland on Friday morning to answer any players\u2019 questions. Manager Rocco Baldelli addressed the entire team and spoke with some individuals to discuss the opportunities the series of deals presented. The Twins also brought along outfielder Byron Buxton, who\u2019s on the trip even though he\u2019s on the injured list, believing the veteran\u2019s presence would be helpful.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving that leader definitely helps,\u201d outfielder Matt Wallner said. \u201cIt was the most interesting day of my big-league career for sure. \u2026 Saying goodbye sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallner was with Trevor Larnach, Cole Sands, Justin Topa and Bailey Ober on Thursday. Gripped by a need for instant information, Wallner reactivated a social media account he hadn\u2019t used for two years to keep up with trade speculation. He\u2019s since deactivated it. He noted the trades of Varland, which players learned of 10 minutes before the 5 p.m. CT deadline, and Jax, which arrived six minutes later, were the biggest shockers.<\/p>\n
The series of moves creates an opportunity for Sands and Topa to pitch in high-leverage innings. Before Friday\u2019s game, Baldelli spoke to both relievers to discuss their new roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since I\u2019ve been in the big leagues, we\u2019ve had Griff and Duran in the back of the bullpen,\u201d Sands said. \u201cKnowing that there\u2019s responsibility for others now, including myself, to go out there and shut the door and go get those (outs), it\u2019s a little different. We\u2019re going to have to go embrace that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experiencing a day unlike any other he\u2019s seen in a professional career that began in 2000, Baldelli knew he needed to gather his players and see how they felt. He also wanted to deliver a message about the opportunity being afforded to some. Equally affected, Baldelli was excited to get back to work after a taxing week.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes the best thing to get away from something is to go play,\u201d Baldelli said. \u201cIt actually helps you relax. \u2026 No one\u2019s done processing all parts of what went on. That might take some time to happen, but we have to get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
For rookie Alan Roden, Friday was his first day at a new workplace. The Wisconsin-born left fielder was acquired with minor-league pitcher Kendry Rojas in a deal that sent Varland to the Toronto Blue Jays. Though the 25-year-old spent Thursday preparing for a Triple-A game in Buffalo, Roden wasn\u2019t stunned to learned he\u2019d been traded.<\/p>\n
One of eight players added to the Twins\u2019 roster Friday, Roden tried to meet new teammates before he started and batted second, finishing 0-for-5.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always know (being traded is) a possibility at that time of year, especially when you\u2019re a prospect on a team that\u2019s trying to compete,\u201d Roden said. \u201cIt was a pretty normal day until it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in his 11th season in the majors, catcher Christian V\u00e1zquez couldn\u2019t recall experiencing a day like Thursday before. He also grappled with being an anomaly on the Twins\u2019 roster, the only impending free agent of the team\u2019s six to not be traded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve seen this in my career,\u201d V\u00e1zquez said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard. But it\u2019s a business. Maybe God wanted me here for a reason. Yeah, I\u2019m still here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four days removed from the birth of his son, Ryan Jeffers also spent Thursday at home before catching a late-night flight to rejoin the club. He\u2019d spent part of the day at the aquarium and riding a carousel with his 2-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
For a minute, Jeffers also thought he might be traded. But as he stood by his stall in the Twins\u2019 clubhouse Friday, Jeffers opined why his team underwent such a drastic facelift.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve shown glimpses of greatness and glimpses of one of the worst teams in baseball,\u201d Jeffers said. \u201cMaybe a reset was needed. Maybe this is the harsh reality of what was needed for this club. It\u2019s a hard pill to swallow for players, fans and everyone associated with the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s deadline outcome was particularly strange for Ryan to consider. After spending part of the day listening to Grateful Dead tracks and trying to distract himself, Ryan joined Correa, Jax and Varland on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Ryan and several others noted Varland was emotional after learning his hometown club had traded him away. Multiple players wondered aloud Friday why the team traded away Varland, Jax, Duran and Stewart, players who were several seasons away from reaching free agency.<\/p>\n
Only 15 minutes before Varland was traded, Ryan thought he\u2019d been sent to Boston. Within seconds, the report of the trade was removed from social media, but Ryan still thought it could happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like I was throwing an intense situation in a game,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cWe were with Carlos, too. We were sitting in there, and it felt like a f\u2014ing horserace. \u2026 There\u2019s some guys that I\u2019m confused by why they got moved. I\u2019m happy, I hope their opportunities work out for them, and I hope they have great careers. But it is weird when your friends that you\u2019ve been with for so long are just gone the next day. \u2026 It\u2019s just sobering.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo of Ryan: Nick Cammett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 He briefly thought he\u2019d been traded, discovered it wasn\u2019t the case and then watched in bewilderment…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1287,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-113647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-minnesota-twins","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114960598580313144","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}