By Arthur Caron
The Cubs fill holes on their team with a mix of free agents and trades. These can take place in the off season before, or during the season. Some acquisitions lead to team or player success before they depart after the season, however, not all make such an impact and some players were a blip in the radar in Cubs history and within the fandom.
I will go through each position and list the best and worst players based on the effectiveness of the player or team performance who was only on the team for less than one season acquired as a free agent or via trade. The categories will be “Wonder,” and “Blunder.” I will also list a “Do You Remember?” section, listing my favorite player who was just on the Cubs for a cup of coffee.
For reference, I will only go back to 1969 when divisional play began.
Catcher:
Wonder: Jason Kendall, 33 Years Old, 2007: Kendall was a star player for a lot of bad Pittsburgh Pirates teams He was a 3-time all-star with over 2,000 career hits and came to the Cubs in a mid-season trade with Oakland. He played in 57 games, hit a respectable .270, and helped the Cubs win the 2007 NL Central as a replacement for the traded Michael Barrett.
Blunder: Tucker Barnhart, 32 Years Old, 2023: Barnhart was signed before 2023 to a 2yr/$6.5 million deal; he only lasted 43 games and was a negative WAR player in his time before his release in August. The Cubs only missed the playoffs by 1 game that season so maybe if he didn’t play in 43 games they could have found another win or two.
Do You Remember? Benito Santiago, 34 Years Old, 1999: The team was awful, losing 95 games, but the former 1987 NL ROY played in over 100 games and threw out 37% of would-be base stealers He was a 5-time All-Star and 3-time Gold Glove award winner in his younger days. He was famous for throwing runners out from his knees..
1st Base:
Wonder: Matt Stairs, 33 Years Old, 2001: Stairs was excellent in his lone year in Chicago with a 1.5 WAR, producing 17 homers and 61 RBIs. Although more known as a pinch-hitter (he holds the record for most career pinch-hit homers with 23), he helped lead the team to 85 wins playing in 128 games.
Blunder: Phil Nevin, 35 Years Old, 2006: Nevin, the former #1 overall pick, was acquired once slugging 1st baseman Derrek Lee broke his wrist in a collision with Rafael Furcal. Although Nevin was respectable in his lone season playing in 67 games, hitting .274 and clubbing 12 homers, the team was awful after losing Lee who finished 3rd in MVP voting in 2005. The Cubs finished the season with 96 losses.
Do You Remember?: Eric Karros, 35 Years Old, 2003: Karros, the former NL ROY, was best known for his LA Dodger days, but he contributed nicely on the 2003 team that won the NL Central and made a run to Game 7 of the NLCS. He hit .286, with 12 homers in 114 games. His most memorable moment came against the Yankees on June 7th, 2003 when he hit a go-ahead 3-run homer in the 7th inning.
2nd Base:
Wonder: Daniel Murphy, 33 Years Old, 2018: Murphy who was a pain in the Cubs’ side as a New York Met in the 2015 NLCS on his way to winning NLCS MVP, joined the Cubs in August of the 2018 season. In that season he hit a respectable .297 generating .5 WAR in just 37 games due to an injury suffered while with Washington at the beginning of the season. He proved to be a reliable veteran backup to Javy Baez, although the Cubs lost a game 163 tiebreaker vs. the Brewers at Wrigley Field to close the season.
Blunder: Brent Lillibridge, 29 Years Old, 2013: Lillibridge was the Opening Day starter in 2013. Lillibridge was only starting because starting 2nd baseman Darwin Barney started the season on the DL. Going 1 for 24 in his time here and eventually being traded in June to the Yankees, Lillibridge is nothing more than a footnote on a 96 loss roster.
Do You Remember? Tony La Russa, 28 Years Old, 1973: La Russa, the MLB Hall of Fame manager, got into 1 game on Opening Day 1973, a game started by Fergie Jenkins at Wrigley Field against the Montreal Expos. La Russa scored the winning run after pinch-running for Ron Santo in the bottom of the 9th.
Shortstop:
Wonder : Emilio Bonifacio, 29 Years Old, 2014: Bonifacio was a 1.5 WAR player in just 69 games with the up-and-coming 2014 team. Although they lost 89 games that year, they had younger pieces on the way to help. Bonifacio was traded to Atlanta to help make room for Javy Baez to work his middle infield magic.
Blunder: Daniel Descalso, 32 Years Old, 2019: Descalso played in 82 games hitting a paltry .173 good for a -.9 WAR. He was thrust into the starting lineup more than expected because of the absence of Addison Russell and Ben Zobrist. Descalso retired after the season.
Do You Remember? Rey Ordόnez, 33 Years Old, 2004: Ordόñez, the slick-fielding 3-time Gold Glove award winner for the Mets, ended his career with the Cubs hitting just .167 in 23 games. The Cubs won 89 games but it wasn’t due to his contributions, or lack thereof.
Third Base:
Wonder: Davey Johnson, 35 Years Old, 1978: Johnson, a former All-Star and future Manager of the Year, was a .5 WAR player hitting a robust .306 in just 24 games after an August trade from Philadelphia.
Blunder: Todd Zeile, 29 Years Old, 1995: Zeile was traded to the Cubs in June and was a -1.3 WAR player in just 79 games, hitting a lowly .227. The Cubs finished above .500 but still missed the playoffs. Zeile had 25 homers and 99 RBIs just the next season.
Do You Remember? Howard Johnson, 34 Years Old, 1995: The hot corner must have been cursed in the 1995 shortened season because not only did the Cubs have the disappointing Todd Zeile, but the reason they needed to make the trade was because of the dismal play of Johnson. The former Silver Slugger and 2-time All-Star ended his career with a whimper racking up -1.1 WAR and hitting only .195 in 87 games.
3 Outfielders
Wonders:
1. Jeromy Burnitz, 36 Years Old, 2005: Burnitz, who played in the weird era when the Cubs didn’t have names on the backs of their jerseys, had a great power stroke in 2005 clubbing 24 homers and knocking in 87 while also playing a team-high 160 games.
2: Kenny Lofton, 36 Years Old, 2003: Lofton was a throw-in when the Cubs traded for slugging 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez from the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. Lofton’s need was necessitated by the injury to young star center fielder Corey Patterson who tore his ACL in a collision at 1st base shortly before the All-Star break. Lofton didn’t disappoint in his short time here. In only 56 games, he had 1.8 WAR and hit .327 while having an OPS+ of 120.
3: Nick Castellanos, 27 Years Old, 2019: Big-Stick-Nick had become a fan favorite in his 51-game stint here. Acquired at the 2019 trade deadline he was a doubles machine leading the league with 58 overall (21 with the Cubs) and hit .321 and achieved a 1.8 WAR in what amounted to about a third of the season.
Blunders:
1. Milton Bradley, 31 years old, 2009: Bradley was an OBP machine with a respectable .364 clip in his career, but his personality alienated him in all of his stops; eight different teams overall. He once tore his ACL arguing a call at 1st base, and in Chicago, he forgot how many out there were and hot dogged a catch then threw the ball into the right field bleachers to a chorus of boos. He was traded after the season just 1 year into a 3-year deal.
2. Candy Maldonado, 32 Years Old, 1993: The Candy Man, as he was called, was brought in to build on his 20-homer campaign while helping the Toronto Blue Jays win the 1992 World Series. He proceeded to have the worst stretch of his career, slumping to a -1.3 WAR in just 70 games before going to Cleveland. The Cubs finished with 84 Wins that season, so his struggles can’t be blamed on the team around him.
3. Joe Mather, 29 Years Old, 2012: The 2012 Cubs lost 101 games, and with players like Mather playing over 100 games it’s no wonder. Mather was a – 2 WAR player that season hitting only .209 in almost 300 ABs.
Do You Remember?
Joe Carter, 23 Years Old, 1983: Carter, the future World Series hero was a 1981 1st round pick by the Cubs. Only playing in 23 games and hitting .176 he was traded in 1984 to Cleveland for 1984 CY Young Award winner Rick Sutcliffe.
Adam Greenberg, 24 Years Old, 2005: Greenberg was called up to make his MLB debut in Miami in July. Greenberg came to the plate as a pinch hitter and was hit in the back of the head. Greenberg would only get 1 more Major League at-bat, ironically with the 2012 Marlins. Although he struck out, the fact that he was able to overcome that tragic incident is a testament to his heart and perseverance.
Roe Skidmore, 24 Years Old, 1970: Skidmore was the 1960’s version of Crash Davis from Bull Durham. He spent 1966-1975 playing over 1,200 minor league games, getting only the 1 Major League at bat in 1970 as a pinch hitter, resulting in a hit and a career 1.000 OBP.
Starting Pitcher:
Wonder: Greg Hibbard, 28 Years Old, 1993: Hibbard came over in a trade from the expansion Florida Marlins and proceeded to lead the team in wins with 15 while starting 31 games and pitching 191 innings. The Cubs won 84 games that season with a lot of help from him.
Blunder: Ruben Quevedo, 21 Years Old, 2000: Quevedo was very underwhelming in his lone year in Chicago. He had a -1.9 WAR with a 7.47 ERA while somehow starting 15 games and appearing in 21 overall. It’s not surprising that the team lost 97 games.
Do You Remember? Shawn Estes, 30 Years Old, 2003: Estes somehow got 28 starts while posting a dismal 5.73 ERA. He had a -1.3 WAR and would only win 8 games. In a bizarre quirk of stats Estes pitched for Colorado in 2004 posting a higher ERA of 5.84, and somehow won 15 games…but that’s baseball.
Relief Pitcher:
Wonder: Aroldis Chapman, 28 years old, 2016: Chapman was acquired from the Yankees at the 2016 trade deadline. He was everything the Cubs wanted and more in his time here. He posted a 1.1 WAR and a microscopic 1.01 ERA in 26 innings. He would go on to be used thoroughly in the playoffs running out of gas near the end giving up the game-tying homer in Game 7 to Rajai Davis. However, he battled through and gave the Cubs a chance to win in extras which, as we all know, they did.
Blunder: Hector Neris, 35 Years Old, 2024: Neris signed a lucrative 3-year deal worth $9 million per season before 2024 but was inconsistent and ineffective. His stats don’t show the concern. He had an 8-4 record with a 3.89 ERA, although he did have 17 saves in 46 games. The Wrigley faithful called him Heart Attack Hector for a reason,blowing 5 saves in 25 chances with a walk rate of 13%.
Do You Remember? Hoyt Wilhelm, 47 Years Old, 1970: Wilhelm, who would become the first relief pitcher to be elected to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1985, was a Knuckleball savant. He pitched until the ripe old age of 49 In his lone season in Chicago he pitched 3.2 innings with a crazy 9.82 ERA.
Cubs Fans! This is my personal list but we would love to hear yours! Do you have a fan favorite who was forgotten? Let us know in the comments below who your favorite forgotten Cub is.