Today at 5 p.m. Central time was the deadline for teams to move players in their minor-league systems to their 40-man rosters to protect them from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
As a reminder,
players 19 or older drafted or signed no later than 2022 and players 18 or older drafted no later than 2021 are Rule 5 Draft eligible this year, as well as players signed internationally no later than 2021.
The Cubs added three players from their system to the 40-man roster Tuesday.
Riley Martin was the Cubs’ sixth-round pick out of Quincy University in 2021. The left-hander turns 28 in March and has spent the last two years at Triple-A Iowa. In 2025 he posted a 2.97 ERA and 1.194 WHIP in 47 games (one start), with 80 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. He’s got a chance to make the Cubs bullpen in 2026.
In addition, the team added infielder Pedro Ramirez from Double-A Knoxville and infielder James Triantos from Triple-A Iowa.
Ramirez is 21 and hit a team-high .280/.348/.386 with 28 stolen bases for the Smokies, splitting time between second base and third base. The native of Venezuela was originally signed by the Cubs on Jan. 15, 2021.
Triantos is 22 and had kind of a down year for Iowa after being a Top 100 prospect before 2024. In 2025 he batted .258/.315/.369 in 102 games with 28 stolen bases. He played all over the field but primarily at second base and center field. Triantos was selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of high school in Virginia.
With these additions and Shōta Imanaga accepting the team’s Qualifying Offer earlier Tuesday, the Cubs’ 40-man roster stands at 32 players.
