A thorough look at the player transactions made by the Cubs during this past bad century reveals an inescapable trend: They traded away star players too soon (before they reached their potential), and acquired star players from other teams too late (after their best days were behind them).

This year on "Tales from a Bad Century," we'll be featuring examples of both.

TOO SOON: Cy Williams (1912-1917)

After the 1917 season, the Cubs traded Cy Williams to the Phillies for a soon-to-be washed up Dode Paskert, center fielder for center fielder. Williams had been the regular center fielder for the Cubs for three seasons, and had been pretty consistent, but after the trade to the Phillies he blossomed into a star. He hit 217 of his 251 career home runs for the Phillies, and by the time he retired in 1930, he was one of only three players in major league history with over 250 career home runs (the other two were Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby). Paskert had two good years with the Cubs (although he helped them win the pennant in 1918), but his speed, which had been a key part of his game, was nearly gone. After the 1920 season he was released.