Pete Crow-Armstrong is now a star in every facet. Four years ago, the Chicago Cubs were taking a shot in the dark when they acquired him from the New York Mets.

It was a trade that’s become a hot topic as of late, now that Crow-Armstrong is playing so well. The Cubs were hovering around .500 in July 2021, and with free agency looming in the offseason for their 2016 World Series-winning core, they decided to start fresh.

Part of that rebuild was dealing Javier Báez to the Mets, a 19-year-old Crow-Armstrong as the return. Crow-Armstrong had played just six games for the Low-A St. Lucie Mets before succumbing to shoulder surgery.

[MORE: Revisiting 2021 Cubs-Mets trade of Javy Báez for Pete Crow-Armstrong]

For Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, Crow-Armstrong was hardly the first player on his wish list.

“(The Mets) said no on a number of really good prospects — (Francisco) Alvarez, (Brett) Baty,” Hoyer told MLB Network’s Brian Kenny in an interview on Wednesday. “Ultimately, we settled on Pete, and we’re really glad that we got him.”

At the time, Crow-Armstrong was the Mets’ No. 5 prospect on MLB Pipeline. Alvarez, a catcher, and Baty, a third baseman and outfielder, were Nos. 1 and 4 on the list, respectively. But because of Crow-Armstrong’s injury and limited playing time, he perhaps flew under the radar, according to Hoyer.

[READ: MLB players rate Craig Counsell, Cubs highly in anonymous survey]

“I think when he hurt his shoulder, he was sort of out of sight, out of mind for the Mets,” Hoyer said.

Báez’s Mets tenure lasted only half a season before signing with the Detroit Tigers. Baty, in his fourth MLB season, has enjoyed a power surge with seven home runs this year but has bounced between the big leagues and Triple-A for most of his career. Alvarez is hitting .250 with two home runs in 30 games, splitting catching duties with Luis Torrens.

On the other hand, Crow-Armstrong is putting together a season that’s garnered MVP whispers. As the Cubs’ mainstay in center field, he leads the National League in both bWAR (3.9) and fWAR (3.6). His 55 RBI and 21 stolen bases are top-five in MLB, and his 11 outs above average lead all outfielders.

While Crow-Armstrong has always had the tools to be the player he is now, even Hoyer said he never quite expected him to perform at this level.

“Sometimes there are happy accidents in this game,” Hoyer said. “We knew his baserunning would be really good, we knew his defense would be great. I’d be lying to say I thought he was going to slug .550.”

But Hoyer and the rest of the Cubs’ front office took a gamble on a teenager who was an all-around athlete and, so far, it’s paid off.

“When you bet on the truly great athletes in this game, they outperform what your expectations are,” Hoyer said. “With Pete, his power has certainly outperformed what we thought he could possibly do.”