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Cubs Activate Numerous New Additions, Option Star Prospect

Originally posted on Chicago Cubs on SI | By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 1:01 PM ET

With the trade deadline coming to a close for the Chicago Cubs, some of their new faces will be getting set to join the team.

It was a busy trade deadline for the Cubs, but they might have left some food on the table in terms of trying to acquire more talent.

Chicago was able to add multiple players, with Willi Castro, Michael Soroka, Taylor Rogers, and Andrew Kittredge all coming over, but they didn’t make the massive splash many were expecting.

While improving the bullpen was nice, Rogers and Kittredge aren’t the caliber of pitchers of a Jhoan Duran, David Bednar, or Ryan Helsley. And with some of the new faces joining the team, the Cubs had to make some roster moves to create space.

#Cubs roster moves:

-INF Willi Castro, RHP Andrew Kittredge and LHP Taylor Rogers have reported and will be active today.
-RHP Gavin Hollowell and C/DH Moisés Ballesteros have been optioned to Triple-A.
— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) August 1, 2025

Chicago will be starting a three-game series on Friday against the Baltimore Orioles, and three of the four players that they traded for will be activated.

To make room for them, Gavin Hollowell and Moisés Ballesteros were optioned to Triple-A. Of the two, moving Ballesteros back to the minors is a significant move, with him being one of the top prospects in the organization.

So far in the Majors, the slugger has slashed .222/.300/.278 in a very small six-game sample size.

With some new weapons arriving, Chicago will be hoping to build some momentum against the Orioles, who gutted their roster at the trade deadline. While the Cubs might not have had an eye-popping move, they did add some depth to the roster, and it’ll be interesting to see if it ends up being enough.

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This article first appeared on Chicago Cubs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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