November 25, 2003: Derrek Lee was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for Hee Seop Choi and Mike Nannini (minors). 1
December 2, 2003: Scott McClain was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. 2
December 18, 2003: Todd Hollandsworth was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. 3
March 23, 2004: Greg Maddux was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. 4
Regular season
In 2004, despite the return of Greg Maddux and a midseason deal for Nomar Garciaparra, misfortune struck the Cubs again. They led the Wild Card by 1.5 games over San Francisco and Houston on September 25, and both of those teams lost that day, giving the Northsiders a chance at increasing the lead to a commanding 2.5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, and the Cubs lost the game in extra innings, a defeat that seemingly deflated the team, as they proceeded to drop 6 of their last 8 games as the Astros won the Wild Card. Despite the fact that the Cubs had won 89 games, this fallout was decidedly unlovable, as the Cubs traded superstar Sammy Sosa after he had left the season's final game early and then lied about it publicly.
Greg Maddux, a Cy Young winner with Chicago in 1991, returned to the rotation in 2004.
April 1, 2004: Scott McClain was released by the Chicago Cubs. 5
June 7, 2004: Sam Fuld was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed July 9, 2004. 6
July 30, 2004: Denny Hocking was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. 7
July 31, 2004: Alex Gonzalez was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Chicago Cubs with Francis Beltran and Brendan Harris to the Montreal Expos. The Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. The Montreal Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins.8
