Throughout the day Thursday, his teammates’ phones buzzed, letting them know, one by one, that their time with the Twins was over.
Never, as he sat with his Twins teammates in their downtown Cleveland hotel that day, did Louie Varland expect that he would also get a call.
But just minutes before the July 31 trade deadline, Varland learned he was being sent to Toronto and away from his hometown team, the one that had drafted him in the 15th round years earlier and had overseen his development from starter to dominant reliever.
What had been a “dream come true,” Varland said, suddenly ended.
“The exchange caught me off guard. I’m sure it caught everyone off guard,” Varland said Wednesday by phone. “But it all happened for a reason. I kept telling myself that and I trusted it. … In the end, that’s what happened. And you can either be sad about it, or you can sulk about it, or you can look at it with an optimistic outlook and… that’s what I did.”
Varland, 27, described himself as being initially “blinded” by the trade. But North St. Paul and Concordia-St. The Paul alumnus — like his brother Gus, 28, currently on the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster — has quickly adapted to his new team and now finds himself just four wins away from winning a World Series ring.
When the series begins Friday night, the Toronto Blue Jays will be looking for their first trophy since 1993, when St. Paul native Paul Molitor led them to their second straight title. This time around, it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers looking to repeat, and Varland and the Blue Jays are the only team standing in their way.
If Toronto were to win, Varland would be a big part of it.
In the Blue Jays’ 11 playoff games thus far, Varland has been called upon 10 times, the most used reliever in the Jays bullpen. In the seven-game American League Championship Series against Seattle, Varland started six of those games.
“I wouldn’t say it’s what I expected, but it’s what I wanted,” he said. “To be used and trusted like that, it’s great. I’m happy to be able to present every day. … I’ve been available every day and they love using me. So it’s a great feeling.”
Varland has a 3.27 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 11 innings this postseason. All four runs he gave up were home runs, including one to former teammate Jorge Polanco in the ALCS against Seattle. Varland was called upon in all kinds of situations in October, from starting a bullpen game one day to entering the eighth inning another. He was often called upon to get four outs.
Pitching against the New York Yankees, he said, was the “peak” of pressure he felt this offseason, although the intensity will increase again once the Fall Classic begins.
“It’s just been crazy, fun and extremely exciting,” Varland said. “We’re still playing baseball. It’s October 22 now. I’m not used to it, that’s for sure.”
Although he’s never pitched this late in October, Varland got a small taste of the postseason while with the Twins, pitching two games during the 2023 season, both, ultimately, in wins against his current team.
It came at the end of a season in which he bounced between the majors and minors, primarily as a starting pitcher. In September, the Twins, believing he could be a weapon in the postseason, put him in the bullpen. The 2024 season followed a similar trajectory for Varland, who moved to the bullpen again late in the season before the Twins ultimately converted him to a full-time relief role this year.
The results could not have been better.
Varland had a 2.02 ERA over 51 games before being dealt at the deadline. He started 74 regular season games, a sign of his durability, and started 10 more during the playoffs. Now come the most important matches of the right-hander’s career – and he’s up for the challenge.
“I’m lucky to be in this position,” Varland said. “It’s been a crazy, fun ride. I never thought I’d be in the World Series, but here we are.”
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