Jed Hoyer discusses how Cubs landed Pete Crow-Armstrong at 2021 trade deadline

During an interview with the New York Post's Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, Chicago Cubs Team President Jed Hoyer reminisced about acquiring center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in 2021.

In what is maturing into a fantastic trade for the Cubs, Crow-Armstrong was acquired at the 2021 trade deadline in exchange for starter Trevor Williams and infielder Javier Baez, the latter of whom was playing on an expiring contract and did not re-sign with the Mets.

Heyman asked Hoyer how the trade went down, and how the Mets must be kicking themselves for giving up someone who is morphing into a superstar talent in 2025. Hoyer said the Mets took prospects who were on the team's top 30 list off the board during the trade talks. Those top prospects at the time include members of the Mets' current core, including catcher Francisco Alvarez, utility man Brett Baty, and third baseman Mark Vientos.

Hoyer also said that Crow-Armstrong's shoulder injury, which resulted in season-ending surgery that year, made the Mets more willing to part with him.

Nobody at the time, or until two months ago for that matter, expected Crow-Armstrong to blossom into such a prolific power hitter. His 17 home runs through his first 66 games put him on pace to smack more than 40 long balls if he can keep this current trajectory. Combine that with his blazing speed on the basepaths and Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field, and you have the makings of an MVP on your hands, and the 23-year-old has made a strong case to belong in that conversation thus far in 2025.

The trade was a stroke of luck for Hoyer and the Cubs, and somewhat of a second chance for the front office, which passed on Crow-Armstrong in the draft a year earlier. In the 2020 draft, the Cubs selected shortstop Ed Howard with the 16th overall pick, a player who is dangerously close to being forced out of baseball with a career .219 batting average in the minors. The Mets took Crow-Armstrong three selections later with the 19th pick.

Now in Chicago — hopefully for the next decade or longer — the Cubs are simply thankful to have PCA on the team. The Mets, meanwhile, are making do just fine without him, sitting at an NL-leading 42-24 heading into the middle of June.