Kevin Gausman was on a flight from Toronto when the Blue Jays traded him

Being traded is never easy for a professional athlete, but it appears Kevin Gausman is handling his departure from the Toronto Blue Jays well.

Though Gausman and seemingly everybody else knew he would be on the move, it still took some time for it to sink in that he had been traded to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Both Gausman and his wife were pretty emotional in the immediate aftermath of the deal, though it seems both are now getting quite excited about their new journey. The 35-year-old pitcher even had a quick joke when asked how he first learned of the trade.

"When I found out I was on the plane with the boys on the way to Houston," Gausman explained. "So just took a free flight to Houston for no reason. It was a little crazy."

Gausman, who shared a nice thank-you note to Blue Jays fans this Tuesday, joins a Cubs team that sits second in the NL Central with a 66-49 record. They have a chance to go on a long run this postseason, which is thrilling for the two-time All Star.

"It's an addicting drug, once you get [to the World Series]," Gausman said. "Losing was heartbreaking, but I wish every big leaguer could experience playing in the World Series. That's what we all dreamt of as kids. To be able to do it was so much fun, but also very heartbreaking.

"Once you're there, all you want to do is get back. I'm really excited to hopefully get back there with this team."

Like many Blue Jays, the 2026 season hasn't been particularly kind to Gausman, who owns a disappointing 4.38 ERA through 23 starts. Despite the struggles, he seemed very confident that he will be able to get back on track quickly.

"I'll just try to be a little bit more consistent, and the biggest thing, just taking a look is [that] I need to be an innings eater here. That's why they brought me here is to start games and do deep into games like I always have. [I'm] just focused on winning ball games."

While Gausman made it very clear that he enjoyed every minute of his time in Toronto, it appears he's flipped the page and is now ready to rock with the Cubs. Should the Blue Jays miss the playoffs, which appears quite likely, there will be plenty of fans north of the border rooting him on in hopes he can win his first World Series.