Cubs roster moves: Jon Lester activated, Leonys Martin added, Jack Leathersich removed from 40-man roster

The Cubs acquired Leonys Martin from the Mariners Thursday night for a player to be named later.

Saturday, he’ll be on the active roster:

Martin, who will wear No. 24, was once considered to be a pretty good outfield prospect, but he has settled in as a defensive replacement/pinch-runner type. He had a decent year in 2016, hitting .247/.306/.378 with 15 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 143 games, and he had 3.5 bWAR and 4.6 bWAR seasons for the Rangers in 2013 and 2014.

This year, though, he hit poorly in the big leagues and spent much of the year at Triple-A Tacoma, where he hit .306/.346/.492 with 11 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 88 games. So there’s clearly talent still there for the 29-year-old; at worst, he’s a guy the Cubs can use as a pinch runner (similar to what they did with Quintin Berry in 2015) for the rest of this year. At best, he might be worth looking at in spring training 2018, as he is under team control (arbitration-eligible) next season.

Also, Jon Lester, who has been on the 10-day disabled list, will join the active roster and start this afternoon against the Braves.