The Cubs won 88 games in 2001 and were in first place in the NL Central for quite a while. So there was much hope in 2002, but… the team fell flat, and as a result changes were made in the manager’s chair and the executive suite. Jim Hendry replaced Andy MacPhail as Cubs GM July 5, 2002, with MacPhail remaining as team president.

March 19: Acquired Winston Abreu from the Padres for Keto Anderson

Nominee for “Most Useless Trade of the 2000s.” Abreu was released at the end of April. Anderson never played in the major leagues.

March 27: Acquired Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca from the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis, Julian Tavarez, Ryan Jorgensen and Jose Cueto

Well, this one’s pretty interesting.

Clement was a solid starter for the Cubs for three seasons, posting 11.0 bWAR (and Dusty Baker probably should have had him ready to pitch in relief in Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS). Alfonseca was a useful reliever in 2003, not so much in 2004.

Willis gave the Marlins five really good years, including being named NL Rookie of the Year in 2003 and finishing second in Cy Young voting in 2005, when he won 22 games and led MLB with five complete-game shutouts. That was all worth 17.2 bWAR.

Willis, the Cubs’ eighth-round pick out of HS in California in 2000, had been very good in the Cubs system — but hadn’t pitched above rookie ball. There was no way anyone could have expected him to be a MLB star in 2003 at age 21. It was a real feel-good story, until injuries ruined the rest of Willis’ career. He now appears occasionally as an analyst on MLB Network.

Julian Tavarez pitched only one year for the Marlins, and not very well (-1.0 bWAR) after one mediocre year with the Cubs in 2001, but he pitched seven more years after that as a reliever/spot starter with the Pirates, Cardinals, Red Sox, Brewers, Braves and Nationals, appearing in the World Series for St. Louis in 2004.