The Cubs caught him at a good time

Dawson gave his greatest performance to date to usher in the new decade. His first season hitting over.300 came in 1980. Additionally, he had 34 stolen bases, 96 runs scored, 87 RBIs, and 17 home runs. In addition to winning his first Silver Slugger Award that year, Dawson also won his first of eight Gold Glove Awards. In his brief career, it was Dawson's most complete season, and he was determined to show that it wasn't a fluke. After all, during the previous 10 years with the Expos, he had won the Rookie of the Year Award, placed second in the MVP vote twice, and earned six Gold Glove Awards. In terms of games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, extra-base hits, total bases, and steals during his career, he set records for Montreal.

After a successful 1986 season, Dawson was the greatest player in the history of the team and was still regarded as one of baseball's best outfielders. Dawson believed he deserved a superstar deal and was hopeful his comeback would lead to one. Dawson would have been considering offers of more than $10 million a season in today's free-agent market as the most sought-after free agent of the off-season. But in 1987, baseball was different. No other teams made any offers to Dawson. The lone offer came from Montreal and included a wage decrease, which Dawson has consistently referred to as "insulting".

Andre Dawson revealed that Montreal's offer was a $200,000 wage decrease after ten years as a free agent. According to him, if he had to accept a wage cut, he would want to work somewhere where he could once again enjoy the game. "I'll enjoy it, I can unwind, and perhaps moving off the AstroTurf will help to reduce the strain on my knees." The Cubs made Dawson an offer, and he took it. They gave him a blank check.