1981 Chicago Cubs Trades and Transactions

Transactions listed are from October 1 of previous year to April 1 of the following year.

• December 8, 1980

  Drafted Jody Davis from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1980 rule 5 draft.

• December 9, 1980

  Traded Bruce Sutter to the St. Louis Cardinals. Received a player to be named later, Leon Durham and Ken Reitz. The St. Louis Cardinals sent Ty Waller (December 22, 1980) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.

• December 11, 1980

  Traded Keith Drumright and Cliff Johnson to the Oakland Athletics. Received Mike King (minors).

• December 12, 1980

  Traded a player to be named later, Jesús Figueroa and Jerry Martin to the San Francisco Giants. Received Phil Nastu and Joe Strain. The Chicago Cubs sent Mike Turgeon (minors) (August 11, 1981) to the San Francisco Giants to complete the trade.

  Traded Mike Vail to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Héctor Cruz.

• January 7, 1981

  Signed Rawly Eastwick as a free agent.

• January 13, 1981

  Drafted Billy Hatcher in the 6th round of the 1981 amateur draft (January). Player signed May 22, 1981.

• February 16, 1981

  Traded Greg Keatley to the Kansas City Royals. Received Dennis Webb (minors).

• February 17, 1981

  Signed Jerry Morales as a free agent.

• February 26, 1981

  Released George Riley.

• February 28, 1981

  Traded Dave Kingman to the New York Mets. Received Steve Henderson and cash.

• March 8, 1981

  Signed Mick Kelleher as a free agent.

• March 28, 1981

  Traded Dennis Lamp to the Chicago White Sox. Received Ken Kravec.

• April 1, 1981

  Mick Kelleher player rights sold to the Detroit Tigers.

• April 6, 1981

  Received Butch Benton from the New York Mets as part of a conditional deal.

• April 27, 1981

  Traded Barry Foote to the New York Yankees. Received Tom Filer and cash.

• May 17, 1981

  Signed Mike Lum as a free agent.

• June 4, 1981

  Purchased Bobby Bonds from the Texas Rangers.

• June 8, 1981

  Drafted Joe Carter in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 1981 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1981.

  Drafted Vance Lovelace in the 1st round (16th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft.

  Drafted Darrin Jackson in the 2nd round of the 1981 amateur draft. Player signed June 11, 1981.

• June 12, 1981

  Traded Rick Reuschel to the New York Yankees. Received a player to be named later, Doug Bird and $400,000. The New York Yankees sent Mike Griffin (August 5, 1981) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.

• August 15, 1981

  Traded Lynn McGlothen to the Chicago White Sox. Received a player to be named later. The Chicago White Sox sent Bob Molinaro (March 29, 1982) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.

• August 19, 1981

  Traded players to be named later to the New York Yankees. Received Pat Tabler. The Chicago Cubs sent Bill Caudill (April 1, 1982) and Jay Howell (August 2, 1982) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.

• October 23, 1981

  Purchased Junior Kennedy from the Cincinnati Reds for $50,000.

  Released Bobby Bonds.

• November 13, 1981

  Tim Blackwell granted Free Agency.

  Héctor Cruz granted Free Agency.

  Dick Tidrow granted Free Agency.

• December 7, 1981

  Traded Doug Capilla to the San Francisco Giants. Received Allen Ripley.

• December 8, 1981

  Signed Bill Campbell as a free agent.

  Signed Fergie Jenkins as a free agent.

  Traded Mike Krukow and cash to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Dan Larson, Keith Moreland and Dickie Noles.

• December 9, 1981

  Traded Jim Tracy to the Houston Astros. Received Gary Woods.

• December 17, 1981

  Released Steve Dillard.

  Released Mike Lum.

• December 28, 1981

  Traded a player to be named later to the Toronto Blue Jays. Received Paul Mirabella. The Chicago Cubs sent Dave Geisel (March 25, 1982) to the Toronto Blue Jays to complete the trade.

• January 12, 1982

  Drafted Alex Madrid in the 2nd round of the 1982 amateur draft (January), but did not sign the player.

• January 27, 1982

  Traded Iván de Jesús to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg.

• January 28, 1982

  Signed Larry Cox as a free agent.

• February 19, 1982

  Signed Dick Tidrow as a free agent.

• March 11, 1982

  Signed Tony Fossas as a free agent.

• March 15, 1982

  Released Mike Tyson.

• March 16, 1982

  Traded a player to be named later to the Montreal Expos. Received Dan Briggs. The Chicago Cubs sent Mike Griffin (March 26, 1982) to the Montreal Expos to complete the trade.

• March 26, 1982

  Traded a player to be named later, Paul Mirabella and cash to the Texas Rangers. Received Bump Wills. The Chicago Cubs sent Paul Semall (minors) (April 21, 1982) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.

• April 1, 1982

  Released Rawly Eastwick.

  Released Ken Reitz.