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How the Chicago Cubs have used trades to build a contender

Being the smart young man he is, Kyle Hendricks had at least an inkling what the Chicago Cubs were doing when they traded for him in July 2012.

“When I first got traded, I was a little bit aware of it,” said Hendricks, a pitcher who came over from the Texas Rangers with third baseman Christian Villanueva in a trade for pitcher Ryan Dempster. “Obviously, after I came over, I became much more aware of what the process and the plan that was put in place.

“I was one of the early parts. They've made a lot of moves since I've been here, with a lot of these young guys, especially position players. Even when I got traded, you could see the ball had definitely started rolling.”

For all the talk of the Cubs' drafting prowess since team president Theo Epstein and his crew came to Chicago in the fall of 2011, trades have been just as important a factor in building an inventory of young talent.

Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer took veteran pitching assets such as Dempster, Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel (whom they since reacquired), Matt Garza and Scott Feldman and turned them into young prospects such as Hendricks, pitcher Jake Arrieta, shortstop Addison Russell and relievers Pedro Strop, Carl Edwards Jr. and Justin Grimm.

They also traded young pitcher Andrew Cashner to the San Diego Padres for a first-base prospect named Anthony Rizzo.

Of the 25 active and 10 disabled-list players the Cubs had on the roster at the end of August, 17 came from trades, eight were major-league free agents, six were drafted, one (Hector Rondon) came from the Rule 5 draft and three were undrafted amateur free agents, including outfielder Jorge Soler and catcher Willson Contreras.

There were a few howls of protest when the Cubs made some of these trades. The losing seasons of 2012, 2013 and 2014 were painful to watch, but without these trades the Cubs aren't where they are today: coming off a deep playoff run last year and poised to win a division title this season.

For the players acquired in the trades, it has been fun for them to see what has happened since the Cubs were losing a lot more than they were winning.

Grimm came to the Cubs with Edwards, third baseman Mike Olt and reliever Neil Ramirez in a July 2013 trade with Texas for Garza.

“When I first got traded, I would say I had no clue,” Grimm said of the Cubs' plan at the time. “I just thought I was going to a different team. After being over here that September, I started to learn a lot about the organization and what they were pushing for.

“It's just been unbelievable, not only the guys they've already drafted and have already made it here but just the guys with trades that they brought over.”

Although Hendricks, Grimm and Edwards all were drafted by the Rangers, they weren't teammates in the minors.

“I was in my first spring training with C.J. (Edwards),” Hendricks said. “We actually hung out a lot together. Grimm was always a level or two ahead of me in the minors, but I hung out with him in spring training.

“I had one spring training with Texas. I briefly knew them. When all of them came over, it was pretty cool.”

Each, however, was aware of the talent the others possessed.

“Absolutely,” Grimm said. “I would say Kyle has opened my eyes up a lot this year. He was always that smart pitcher in the minor leagues going through lineups, but it's a whole different story here going through that third and fourth time. To see him grow this year has been nothing short of impressive.”

It was during a stay at Class AAA Iowa in 2013 that Hendricks first caught sight of Arrieta, who had just arrived from Baltimore with Strop in a deal that sent Feldman and catcher Steve Clevenger to the Orioles.

When the Cubs acquired Arrieta, they sent him to Iowa, brought him up for a spot start and then sent him back to Des Moines. Arrieta returned to the Cubs for good — and then some. He went 10-5 with a 2.53 ERA in 2014 before winning the Cy Young Award last year with a record of 22-6 and an ERA of 1.77.

Hendricks remembers catching a glimpse.

“Right when I got called up to Iowa, he was there,” Hendricks said. “I don't think I could have ever imagined it coming to this because I knew nothing about him. I didn't even know who he was. When I did show up in Iowa and saw him throw for his first game, I think he struggled a little bit.

“He had some walks and gave up some runs, but the one thing I noticed right away was his stuff, and we even talked about it in the locker room.

“It was the best stuff pretty much in baseball that we had seen at that point. That was always there, and I know that's probably why the Cubs were pretty high on him from the start, if he could just figure it out.

“Obviously, he puts all the hard work and dedication into it to figure it out, to let his body figure it out. His stuff is still premier, one of the best in the game, and now his mechanics are solid, and he's got that command to go with it.”

Russell was one of the final big young trade pieces, coming in a July 4, 2014, firecracker of a deal with Oakland that sent Samardzija and Hammel to the A's for Russell, pitcher Dan Straily and outfielder Billy McKinney.

“After the trade, I just wanted to come here and come to a good ballclub,” Russell sad. “I really didn't know what to expect.

“I thought whenever I got here, it was a great ball team. I was placed in Double-A, and they had a lot of great guys that I've gotten to know. Some of them are here in the major leagues right now. It's pretty cool. I've been blessed that the Cubs gave me the opportunity to play.”

One could argue that the Cubs pulled off multiple heists in getting these young players. In fairness to the teams that traded them, those teams wanted to win immediately, and one way of doing that is by trading prospects for veterans who can help down the stretch.

But give credit to the Cubs for scouting a Cy Young winner in Arrieta, a Cy Young candidate this year in Hendricks, and a possible Gold Glove winner and future MVP in Russell.

It was just three years ago this month that Hendricks sat in the dugout at Wrigley Field for the first time and talked about being the Cubs' minor-league pitcher of the year before going on to finish work for his degree at Dartmouth.

“It seems like the blink of an eye, and I'm here where I'm at already,” he said. “You always project where you're going to go or what's going to happen, but this for me is above and beyond anything I ever imagined. Even coming into this season I had goals that were much lower than where I'm at right now.

“I'm just trying to take every day, take in what I can, learn from the game, learn from my peers, the other guys we have on this staff. Just go day to day and know what my body needs and try to keep this consistency going.

“We all know what we want to accomplish in October and where this whole team is headed.”

Cubs scouting report

How Cubs were built

Here is a look at how players on the Cubs' roster were obtained. The roster includes the 25-man active roster and 10 players on the disabled list at the end of August. It does not include September call-ups such as former first-round draft pick Albert Almora. The Cubs obtained Dexter Fowler in a trade before last season and re-signed him as a free agent on Feb. 25, 2016:

<b>Amateur draft</b>

Javier Baez

Dallas Beeler

Kris Bryant

Kyle Schwarber

Matt Szczur

Rob Zastryzny

<b>Trades</b>

Jake Arrieta

Aaron Brooks

Aroldis Chapman

Chris Coghlan

Carl Edwards Jr.

Justin Grimm

Kyle Hendricks

Tommy La Stella

Miguel Montero

Mike Montgomery

Anthony Rizzo

Zac Rosscup

Addison Russell

Joe Smith

Pedro Strop

Christian Villanueva

Travis Wood

<b>Free-agent signings</b>

Trevor Cahill

Dexter Fowler

Jason Hammel

Jason Heyward

John Lackey

Jon Lester

David Ross

Ben Zobrist

<b>Undrafted amateur free agents</b>

Willson Contreras

Felix Pena

Jorge Soler

<b>Rule 5 draft</b>

Hector Rondon

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