THE Cubs did not vote the Pirates a share of their postseason earnings last year, even though Pittsburgh was instrumental in Chicago's presence in the playoffs.  The Cubs edged the Houston Astros by a game for the National League Central championship, and in the last two months of the season, Aramis Ramirez, Kenny Lofton and Randall Simon made a difference for the Cubs to achieve that edge.  In the playoffs, where the Cubs were five outs from reaching the World Series, Lofton and Simon batted better than .300 and Ramirez led the team with 4 home runs and 10 runs batted in.  Ramirez, Lofton and Simon played for the Cubs courtesy of the Pirates, who traded the first two to Chicago on July 22 and Simon on Aug. 16. The day the Cubs acquired Ramirez and Lofton, they were in third place, four and a half games from first.  That trade was made nine days before the nonwaiver trading deadline, which is six days from today. Fewer teams may be willing to trade players this week than in past seasons because more teams than usual are competing for playoff positions. But a year ago, the Pirates were eager sellers and the Cubs eager buyers.  For Ramirez, a third baseman, and Lofton, a center fielder, the Cubs gave the Pirates infielder Jose Hernandez and the minor leaguers Matt Bruback and Bobby Hill. The minor leaguer Ray Sadler was the price for Simon.  ''We were in a situation last year with a lot of one-year players we had signed to fill voids because we didn't have players internally ready for the major leagues,'' Dave Littlefield, the Pirates' general manager, said.  The Pirates had signed the veteran Lofton and the journeyman Simon to one-year contracts, but they had a contract with Ramirez for this season at a $6 million salary.  ''We were very fortunate that Pittsburgh had economic reasons for doing it,'' Jim Hendry, the Cubs' general manager, said. Of the players the Pirates received from the Cubs, Hill is the only one playing for them. He has been a part-time starter in the infield, hitting .274 in 76 games.  ''As a general manager, you realize with Lofton and Simon, these were rentals,'' Littlefield said. ''The reality is when you get a guy for two months, you're not going to get a top-rate major league performer.''  Not so with Brian Giles. The Pirates traded him to San Diego last Aug. 26 and received pitcher Oliver Perez and outfielder Jason Bay. Entering yesterday's games, Perez had the lowest earned run average among Pirates starters (3.18), led the National League in strikeouts per nine innings (10.9) and allowed the third-lowest opponents' batting average (.205). Bay drove in eight runs in a game this season and led the league's rookies in home runs (13), runs batted in (41), on-base percentage (.369) and slugging percentage (.614); his .301 batting average was second.  ''Giles is a good player, and we had a contract we were going to get good value from,'' Littlefield said. ''But we needed more players, and we liked the players we were getting in return. We were also able to use that money'' -- $14.5 million to Giles for this season and next -- ''to distribute in other places. We have a much different makeup on our roster this year with eight rookies on the team.''  Giles was not going to do for the Padres last season what Ramirez, Lofton and Simon did for the Cubs. San Diego was looking to the future, which has turned out to be now.  ''Giles is a great player,'' Kevin Towers, the Padres' general manager, said. ''I used to look at the statistics, and he was right there in all the categories. Even when he wasn't hitting, he was drawing walks. He was one piece we felt we were missing to be a good offensive club.''  The Padres initially talked to the Pirates about Giles and their starting catcher, Jason Kendall. But, Towers said: ''We didn't want to take on Kendall's contract. We weren't able to get anything done by the trade deadline, but in August we separated the two and we talked about Giles. When they asked major league waivers on him, we put in a claim and they had to deal with us.''  The Pirates are prepared to be sellers once again this week. Teams seeking a starting pitcher have pursued Kris Benson, who can be a free agent, and the Pirates are not likely to sign him.  The Pirates, Littlefield said, would prefer position players in return, primarily at first and third base and in the outfield.  Matsui Is a Leading Rookie  Kazuo Matsui, the Mets' shortstop, has been criticized for underachieving, but a glance at his achievements offers a different perspective. Although some people may not consider him a rookie because of his time in Japan, baseball rules classify him as a rookie.
Murray Chass On Baseball column discusses last season's trades that brought Kenny Lofton, Aramis Ramirez and Randall Simon to Chicago Cubs from Pittsburgh Pirates; New York Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui leads National League rookies in runs, hits, total bases, extra-base hits, doubles, walks and stolen bases (S)