Business as usual for Ryan after emotional Deadline rollercoaster

CLEVELAND – It’s been a strange, unsettling 48 hours or so for everyone in the Twins organization, but possibly more so for Joe Ryan than just about anyone else.

A subject of trade rumors repeatedly in recent weeks, Ryan thought he had been traded on Thursday afternoon as part of the Twins’ large-scale selloff. Later that day, he found himself saying goodbye to some teammates he never expected to be gone. And then when the season resumed on Friday, it was Ryan on the mound for the new-look Twins.

“It's been a whirlwind,” said Ryan, who was his usual effective self once he took the mound, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. “I felt like I threw a whole game yesterday with a lot of emotions. I was kind of in a weird state of mind and physically pretty exhausted too.”

Minnesota traded 10 players off of its Major League roster this week, including eight on Thursday alone. Deals for Louis Varland and Griffin Jax in particular shook the clubhouse, as both pitchers were under team control for multiple years and both were key parts of one of the game’s best bullpens.

But for a while on Thursday, Ryan thought he had been moved as well. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported that the Red Sox “have made a late effort” to trade for Ryan. Based on that report, two national outlets then posted that Ryan had been traded, when no such thing had happened.

As he waited to find out whether it was true, the final minutes before the 5 p.m. CT Deadline approached, and it appeared that perhaps Varland and Jax had not been dealt. Then, in the final moments, everything flipped. Ryan was staying, and Varland and Jax were gone, to the Blue Jays and Rays, respectively.

“I obviously thought I got traded for several minutes,” Ryan said, “and then it was like, 'Is this going to happen? What's the deal?' That was a weird mix of emotions. I was with Griffin [Jax] during that. It was just weird. Then he didn't think he was going to get traded, and he got traded [while] I didn't. It was weird. It was a lot. It felt like I was throwing an intense situation in a game.”

And after all that, just about 24 hours later, Ryan had a game to pitch. Along with all of his remaining teammates, he showed up to a clubhouse that included eight new faces, which was strange enough for everyone.

But rather than participating in the clubhouse conversations, he stuck to the starting pitcher’s usual routine of not talking much to anyone. He did not have any one-on-one meetings with club personnel to discuss the situation. Ryan simply went about his business before taking the mound as though it was any other day.

“I was kind of expecting a call after everything [got] blown up and then I fake [got] traded,” Ryan said after Minnesota’s 3-2 loss to the Guardians in 10 innings at Progressive Field. “And then nothing. So it was like, all right, that was a little weird. But I think they were just respecting my space today on start day. Just trying to keep it as normal as possible. I appreciate that side of it. Probably not the time to have that conversation. I’m sure they’ll find time. We’ve got two months.”

Ryan shook it all off admirably once the game started. His start included some defensive issues behind him, after a double-play ball was not converted and another grounder snuck through, allowing a first-inning run. After two more singles and a walk in the second, Ryan trailed, 2-0. After that, however, he settled in, retiring 12 Guardians in a row before allowing a sixth-inning single by Kyle Manzardo.

“That’s a good outing,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “It’s a really good outing. He found his way through everything he needed to. He made good pitches when he needed to. The stuff was good today, and he was able to do it.

“It’s an unusual day today. Unlike some other days we’ve had at the ballpark. He was able to go out there and pitch very well and very competitively.”