Greg Deichmann tells story of the night he was traded to the CubsRussell Dorseyon August 10, 2021 at 12:25 am

Greg Deichmann has had a wild two weeks, but after things have settled following the trade deadline, the Cubs’ outfielder is starting to catch his breath. Every baseball player understands the business side of baseball, but even Deichmann was curious at this year’s deadline.

Deichmann was one of the two players the Cubs acquired in the trade that sent left-hander Andrew Chafin to the Oakland A’s.

“You’re kind of always blindsided by 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 [Ken] Rosenthal’s tweets.”

There’s always a possibility a player can be traded and as Deichmann quickly found out, those trades can also happen at any time, including during the middle of a game. News of the deal between Oakland and the Cubs broke during the middle of the Cubs-Reds game on July 26. Meanwhile in Salt Lake City, news hadn’t gotten to Deichmann just yet.

He was still playing for Triple-A Las Vegas when the trade went down and he didn’t find out on Twitter or on TV, but from fans in the stands.

“I was in Salt Lake and I think it was a day or two 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 as 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,” he said. “He’s like, ‘You’re out of here. And we’re just talking about waiting to go here and then my manager comes up and kind of gives me a little pat. And 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 and the manager calls me back in. Immediately. I’m just 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 is one of the first players from the Cubs’ deadline deals to make it to the big leagues along with right-hander Codi Heuer to get an opportunity on the team’s major-league roster.

The Cubs have plenty of opportunities for players over the last two months of the season and Deichmann will have a chance to show what he’s capable of in his first stint in the big leagues.

“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.”

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