Recalling the Cubs trade that netted Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton

Looking back over the annals of Cubs history, you can find some pretty lopsided trades. If that’s your cup of tea and you’re not looking for a pick-me-up style piece, take a look at some of the worst Cubs trades of the last 50 years here.

But they aren’t all losers, either. The deal that netted Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop still has Orioles fans up in arms – and another trade that shouldn’t be overlooked is the July 2003 move that brought Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez to the North Side in exchange for Jose Hernandez and a player to be named later (Bobby Hill).

The Pirates were slashing payroll – and that allowed the Cubs to land Lofton, who took over in center field for Chicago after they lost breakout outfielder Corey Patterson to knee surgery halfway through the year. Lofton brought speed and a veteran grittiness to the club and he really performed down the stretch, batting .327/.381/.471 after coming over in the deal – even at 36 years of age.

That reunited Lofton with his former skipper, Dusty Baker, who managed him the year prior during the Giants’ run to the Fall Classic. In his first month in Chicago, Lofton hit .352 – as the Cubs marched toward October.

In the postseason, Lofton kept doing what he did. He got on at a .348 clip in the NLDS and followed that up with a .382 OBP in the League Championship Series against the Marlins. That marked the end of his time in a Cubs uniform, but it was just the beginning for Ramirez.

Chicago Cubs: Aramis Ramirez became a building block on the North Side

The 25-year-old infielder finished that 2003 season with 27 homers and 106 RBI between Pittsburgh and Chicago. So make no mistake, he had a role on that team we all believed was poised to end our longstanding title drought. But as nice of a short-term win Lofton was in that trade, Ramirez wound up paying dividends for years to come.

Ramirez went on to become the team’s most established answer at the hot corner since Ron Santo over the next eight years, earning a pair of All-Star nods and a Silver Slugger, while averaging 28 homers, 97 RBI and a 124 OPS+ from 2003 to 2011. His 239 home runs in a Cubs uniform ranks seventh all-time – and of the six players ahead of him, four are Hall of Famers, with the other two being Sammy Sosa and Anthony Rizzo. Pretty admirable company if you ask me.

With time, Cubs fans have loved to pile it on Jim Hendry – but in his first year at the helm, he pulled off a trade that addressed an immediate need in the outfield and netted a slugger who’d be a cornerstone for the club for the better part of the next decade. This is one of those trades that is certainly worth remembering.