The Cubs have added a righthanded reliever to the 40-man roster by signing 25-year-old Andury Acevedo, a native of the Dominican Republic who was in the Yankees organization. He was originally signed by the Pirates in 2007 and had been in the Yankees organization since 2012. He was a six-year minor-league free agent.
Acevedo was originally an infielder when signed but after four years of not hitting very much, he was converted to pitching in 2012. He did not have much success early but at three levels of the Yankees organization in 2015, he posted a 2.59 ERA, 1.254 WHIP and 49 strikeouts in 59 innings.
This seems like a depth signing; though Acevedo did reach Triple-A late in 2015, it didn't seem as if he was anywhere close to helping a big-league bullpen. He hadn't pitched above A ball until this year. Most likely, he'll wind up in the Iowa bullpen, or possibly the Cubs will try to sneak him through waivers so they can outright him.
Which brings me to another important note: tomorrow, Friday, November 20, is the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. The deadline is 10:59 p.m. CT, but somehow I don't think Theo & Jed are going to stay up late on a Friday night; we'll probably hear about the Cubs' additions to the 40-man sometime earlier tomorrow.
With the addition of Acevedo, the 40-man roster stands at 31. That doesn't mean the Cubs will add nine players tomorrow, though they certainly could. Feel free to speculate on who will be added in the comments.