The 2005 Cubs were expected to do better than they did. Instead, it was a year muddling around .500, and the trades made that year reflected that.
February 2: Acquired Mike Fontenot, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Dave Crouthers from the Orioles for Sammy Sosa
After Sosa’s unceremonious exit at the end of the 2004 season, it seemed inevitable he’d be traded, and so he was.
The two major league players acquired (Crouthers never played in the majors) actually weren’t too bad. Fontenot had a really good year for the Cubs in 2008 (.305/.395/.514 with nine home runs in 119 games, 3.