'Could we please not?': Gausman says goodbye to Blue Jays without facing them

CHICAGO -- In many ways, the Blue Jays playing a makeup game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field is a blessing. But there’s a part of Kevin Gausman that also hoped it was a full series.

“I wish it was for more than just one day, so I could maybe go to dinner with a couple of the guys and really say bye,” Gausman said on Thursday morning in the Cubs’ clubhouse at Wrigley Field, donning Cubs gear. “But it is what it is, at least I get to see them again.”

Gausman was dealt to the Cubs on Sunday for a pair of prospects, as the team was on a flight to Houston for a three-game set. Manager John Schneider called Gausman to the front of the plane and let him know he had been dealt to Chicago. The right-hander went back to his spot on the plane, near George Springer and Daulton Varsho (who would later be traded, too), and gave them the news.

“I just kind of went back there and stood there kind of awkwardly for a second,” Gausman said. “I think they could kind of tell something was going on. I love both those guys and thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. So saying bye to them was hard, for sure.”

The news was equally as difficult to deliver for Schneider, who had developed a close bond with Gausman during their time together in Toronto.

“I got a little emotional just because of the time he spent here, what he meant to this organization, how he felt for this organization and the city and the country and how he was just so revered, really, by a lot of the fan base,” Schneider said.

“It was weird. The timing of those things, you never really know, and we were a little bit late taking off and thought we would have landed already when the news broke, but it’s that time of year. The Trade Deadline is always weird.”

The 35-year-old followed the rest of the moves the Blue Jays made at the Deadline, noting that he “thought they did really good for the future.” While Varsho might have briefly thought he was staying in Toronto after the Blue Jays acquired José Soriano, Gausman didn’t try to stomach the “What if?” scenario of being teammates with Soriano and the Blue Jays.

“Yeah, I’m not going to say anything like that,” Gausman said. “I’m happy for them over there. I do think they got better. They definitely got younger, getting rid of me. That helps. But listen, I wish nothing but the best for that organization and especially those guys. I texted Varsh, ‘Go ‘Stros.’

“It’s weird, but it’s part of the business. It’s kind of what we sign up for.”

Gausman’s final start with the Blue Jays came on Aug. 1 against the Cardinals, meaning he was in line to start Thursday’s makeup game. But the idea of facing his former team with the emotions still raw was tough for him to stomach.

“I didn’t necessarily ask [not to pitch], but I was like, could we please not, you know,” Gausman said. “I just know it would be a lot. I just want to focus on trying to win a game and pitching against them. I think I could do it, I know those hitters pretty well over there. I know their strengths, their weaknesses.

“But I think it would be a lot mentally and for them, too.”

Instead, Gausman used Thursday as an opportunity to catch up with his teammates and issue a proper farewell, rather than a rushed one aboard a chartered plane -- or toeing the rubber to pitch against them.

“Listen, really close with all those guys and wish them nothing but the best,” Gausman said. “Looking forward to watching us play them today and seeing those guys again. But definitely glad I’m not facing them.”