There are downsides to winning an Olympic medal that you probably never considered. Sure, there's great pride in representing your country, in winning big games, in standing on that medal podium, but consider Joe Ryan's life now that he owns a silver medal from the Tokyo Games.

"TSA kept taking it out [at airports]. I was like, you guys just want pictures, right?" Ryan said Sunday from his new professional hometown. Bugged for photos by other travelers, "I made [teammate Shane] Baz take his out and take pictures the whole time, so mine just stayed in the backpack."

Veteran move by a kid with a future. Ryan could pitch in Target Field later this season, but on Sunday, he settled for showing off that medal to cheering fans in the Twins' home park. He will report to Class AAA St. Paul this week to resume a career that took an unexpected detour in Japan.

The day after he arrived in Tokyo, a fellow Team USA member came to the athletes village room he shared with fellow Rays prospect Baz with some news: Nelson Cruz had been traded to Tampa Bay. "We kind of looked at each other and were like, 'It's one of us,' " Ryan said. "I looked at my phone and I had a missed call from [Rays General Manager Erik Neander]. Figured it was me."

He was right, though the Twins made sure the change of address wouldn't affect him while he had international business to take care of.

"They were great," the 25-year-old Californian said. "Across the board, it was, 'Go win a medal. Go focus on that right now. We'll talk when you get back.' "

Now he's back, and ready to fit into a new organization, one he faced for an inning in a spring training game, but is mostly a mystery to him. His lone connection to the Twins? He once worked out at the same gym in Los Angeles as Kenta Maeda.

So after the Twins' 5-4 victory over his former team, Ryan and Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson headed to the bullpen, where the righthander threw a bullpen session, mostly to get the Twins up to speed on his ability.

It might have whetted the Twins' appetite a little, too. Ryan, after all, had a 3.63 ERA in 57 innings at Class AAA Durham before joining Team USA, and he is joining an organization with a couple of vacancies in its major league rotation. But for now, Derek Falvey said earlier this week, Ryan will join the other half of that trade, righthander Drew Strotman, with the Saints and get comfortable with a more regular workload.

"Just get their feet underneath them and [we'll] try and get to know them, learn what they've been working on," said Falvey, the Twins president of baseball operations. "We've connected with their agents, too, which is really helpful to get a sense for what their offseason programming was, what they plan to do this offseason. We have some ideas about how we're going to help each of those guys."

Varela sidelined

Hitting coach Edgar Varela headed home to Fort Myers, Fla., when the team's road trip ended a week ago, in order to tend to family members who had come down with COVID-19. But the situation changed once he arrived: The Twins learned this week that Varela has now tested positive as well.

That's going to delay his return.

"The only thing that matters right now is his well-being and his family's well-being. It's a very difficult time for them," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who checked on his coach's health via text this weekend. "Luckily, to this point it doesn't appear that anything has gotten any worse, and we're just kind of waiting this thing out to make sure that they're all doing OK."

Varela will have to test negative a couple of times before he can return, and it's too early, Baldelli said, to predict when that might happen. In the meantime, Twins advance scout Frankie Padulo and outfield coach Tommy Watkins have filled in, working with hitters in the batting cages.

Alcala on mend

A magnetic resonance imaging test on Jorge Alcala's right arm found "some mild triceps tendinitis," but nothing more serious, Baldelli said.

The reliever, placed on the injured list after feeling some discomfort in his arm on Aug. 8, played catch in the outfield on Sunday, the first step toward a return.

"He's feeling a lot better. It was a little bit of a scare," Baldelli said. "He's been such a healthy guy for us and a durable guy for us. We think he's going to be OK."