Offseason

• November 25, 2003: Derrek Lee was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for Hee Seop Choi and Mike Nannini (minors).
• December 2, 2003: Scott McClain
  Scott McClain
  Scott Michael McClain is a former Major League Baseball third baseman who is a scout in Nippon Professional Baseball....
  
   was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
• December 18, 2003: Todd Hollandsworth was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
• March 23, 2004: Greg Maddux
  Greg Maddux
  Gregory Alan Maddux , nicknamed "Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years , a feat matched only by Randy Johnson...
  
   was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.

Regular season

In 2004, despite the return of Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

Gregory Alan Maddux , nicknamed "Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years , a feat matched only by Randy Johnson...

 and a midseason deal for Nomar Garciaparra

Nomar Garciaparra

Anthony Nomar Garciaparra is a former Major League Baseball player. After playing parts of 9 seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played third base, first base, and designated hitter for the Oakland Athletics, first base and third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and...

, 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

LaTroy Hawkins

LaTroy Hawkins is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Through 2011, he was third of all active pitchers in career games pitched.-Minnesota Twins:...

 blew a save to the Mets, allowing a three-run game-tying home run with two outs in the ninth. 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

Sammy Sosa

Samuel Peralta "Sammy" Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career which spanned from 1989-2007....

 after he had left the season's final game early and then lied about it publicly.

Transactions

• April 1, 2004: Scott McClain
  Scott McClain
  Scott Michael McClain is a former Major League Baseball third baseman who is a scout in Nippon Professional Baseball....
  
   was released by the Chicago Cubs.
• April 3, 2004: Trenidad Hubbard was released by the Chicago Cubs.
• April 12, 2004: Trenidad Hubbard was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
• 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.
• July 30, 2004: Denny Hocking was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
• July 31, 2004: Alex Gonzalez was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Chicago Cubs with Francis Beltrán 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.

Roster

2004 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders		Manager Coaching Staff (first base) (special asst) (third base) (bullpen) (hitting) (bench) (pitching)

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	37	129	28	.217	3	8

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Boise; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Daytona