Jason Frasor slowly made his way around the clubhouse, greeting the players who were suddenly his ex-teammates, exchanging hugs and solemn words in the process.
After eight years with the Toronto Blue Jays – eight years of one-year contracts – the dependable reliever was heading back to his home town of Chicago, now a member of the White Sox.
And his mind was a conflicted whirlwind of emotions.
"Eight years, that's a long time," Frasor, 33, said after learning that he had been traded away by Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "It's hard to leave this locker room, I've made a lot of friends, a lot of good buddies here. I've got a new coaching staff that I love and I only pitched for them for four months.
"I think Alex really has this team on the right track, I hope he stays the course. I really like what he's done. I don't blame him for making this trade."
Earlier that day, the pitcher with the most appearances in Blue Jays history (453) was told that he was part of a three-team package deal orchestrated by Anthopoulos that ultimately landed Toronto coveted centre fielder Colby Rasmus.
None of the principals in the deal were able to make it to Toronto in time for Wednesday night's game in which Ricky Romero (8-9) returned to winning form for the first time in six starts, leading the Blue Jays (52-52) to a 3-0 victory.
Romero was overpowering, limiting Baltimore (41-59) to just four hits while striking out nine over 8 1/3-innings of work.
The trade dominos started to fall earlier in the day when Anthopoulos agreed to ship Frasor to the White Sox, along with highly regarded pitching prospect Zach Stewart.
In return, the Blue Jays received veteran starter Edwin Jackson along with infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen.
But that was just the appetizer to the main course.
Shortly after, the Blue Jays flipped Jackson to the St. Louis Cardinals, along with relievers Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel, outfielder Corey Patterson and three players to be named later or cash considerations.
In return, the Blue Jays landed Rasmus along with relievers Trevor Miller, P.J. Walters and former Blue Jay Brian Tallet.
It was Rasmus that Anthopoulos had his eye on all along.
"We've asked about him a lot in the past," a weary-looking Anthopoulos told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. "We'd asked about him a lot the last off-season, during the season. And the answer was always no."
Anthopoulos said it was hard to part ways with a solid veteran presence like Frasor, who met and married a Toronto girl during his time with the Blue Jays.
Their only child was born in Toronto.
But the GM noted he had to give up quality to get quality in return and it was the price of doing business.
Frasor said it will be difficult leaving Toronto but is happy that he will be returning to his hometown of Chicago to play – even though he grew up a fan of the Cubs and not the White Sox.
"I can't believe it's Chicago, of all teams, of all cities," he said. "But there's a couple positives coming out of this. Going to a pennant race. I've never been in a pennant race. That's why we play, right, to try to win it all. That's very exciting.
"And it's probably the best-case scenario for my wife, my family. Now she has my family to lean on. We could have been shipped to Tokyo or something."
Rzepczynski, who was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2007 and had emerged as Toronto's most dependable middle reliever this season, said he was also caught off-guard by the trade.
"It's just kind of a shell-shocker more than anything," he said.
Anthopoulos said Teahen will be utilized as a role player off the bench while Miller and Walters will both assume bullpen roles.
Tallet, when he returns off the 15-day disabled list with a rib cage injury, will also be headed to the bullpen.