During the trade deadline, any player can be traded at the drop of a hat. On Wednesday, the Cincinnati Reds dealt starting pitcher Tanner Roark to the Oakland Athletics just hours before the 4 p.m. ET deadline, and Roark found out about in a strange place. Roark told reporters he was eating lunch in an Arby's parking lot when he was informed that he'd been traded to the A's.
Roark was just enjoying his lunch when the deal went down and it's obviously one of the stranger places a player could discover they're on the move. The right-hander was traded for outfielder prospect Jameson Hannah just hours after the Reds acquired starting pitcher Trevor Bauer in a three-way deal with the Cleveland Indians.
Despite the acquisition of Bauer, Roark was confident that he was staying with the team because he hadn't heard otherwise. With that in mind, he attempted to drive the family car to his wife in Atlanta, which is where the Reds begin a four-game series with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
In an interview with reporters following the trade announcement, Roark said that he got about 20 minutes on the road and decided that he wanted to stop at Arby's for a Beef N' Cheddar and curly fries. When he was sitting in his car in the parking lot eating, Roark admitted he heard trade chatter, but hadn't heard anything from the organization yet.
Roark hadn't heard anything official at that point, but he assumed that it would be a good idea to drive back to Cincinnati.
In December, Roark was traded to the Reds from the Washington Nationals, which is where he spent the first six seasons of his MLB career. In 21 starts this season, Roark has accumulated a 6-7 record with a 4.24 ERA and recorded 108 strikeouts.
In his last start with the Reds, Roark lasted just 3 1/3 innings and surrendered five runs on six hits while striking out just two batters in an 11-4 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday.
