Cubs outfielder Greg Deichmann has had a wild two weeks. But now that things have settled since the trade deadline, he is starting to catch his breath.
Deichmann, 26, was one of two players the Cubs acquired in the trade that sent left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin to the Athletics.
‘‘You’re kind of always blindsided by a trade unless you’re in control of that situation, but you always know it’s a possibility,’’ Deichmann said. ‘‘Especially kind of coming up to the trade deadline with the position that the A’s were in and just kind of their history of going out and getting guys at the deadline to make a playoff push.
‘‘So you never think it’s going to be you until it actually happens. But, yeah, you’re kind of checking Twitter here and there, looking for [baseball insider Ken] Rosenthal’s tweets.’’
It’s always possible a player can be traded, and — as Deichmann found out — it can happen at any time, including during the middle of a game.
News of the deal between the Cubs and A’s broke during the middle of the Reds-Cubs game July 26, but it hadn’t reached Deichmann in Salt Lake City at the same time.
He was playing for Triple-A Las Vegas when the trade went down and didn’t find out about it on Twitter or on TV. Instead, he learned of it from fans in the stands.
‘‘I was in Salt Lake, and I think it was [a few days] before the deadline,’’ he said. ‘‘I was running off in the seventh inning, and a fan in right field, I could hear him, ‘Deichmann, you got traded.’ So I’m just like, ‘Whatever.’ ’’
Deichmann’s strange night didn’t end there. He had a variety of interactions with his teammates and coaching staff before finally being told about the trade.
‘‘I get in the dugout, and one of my teammates comes and shakes my hand,’’ Deichmann said. ‘‘He’s like, ‘You’re out of here.’ And . . . then my manager comes up and kind of gives me a little pat. And he was like, ‘Hey, stay locked in.’ And now I’m like, ‘What do we got?’ So I’m sitting on the railing. I’m talking to one of my teammates, and I tell him I’m so rattled right now. He’s like, ‘Why?’ And I just tell him all these things.
‘‘So I start running out for the eighth inning, and I probably make it to the pitcher’s mound before the manager calls me back in. I’m like, one of two things just happened: I got traded or I’m going up [to the big leagues]. I get back in the dugout and I’m walking through, and all my teammates are just staring in the field. They’re just not even looking at me, and I’m like, ‘Yup, I got traded.’ ’’
Deichmann became one of the first players from the Cubs’ deadline deals to make it to the majors and get an opportunity on the big-league roster. The Cubs will have plenty of opportunities for players during the last two months of the season, and Deichmann will have a chance to show what he’s capable of in his first major-league stint.
‘‘That’s a really valuable next two months [where] we’re gonna have to continue to keep an eye on the guys that can prove it every single day,’’ manager David Ross said. ‘‘I think there’s a real opportunity to play here.’’
