Yacksel Ríos: Everything you need to know

Rios signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs on Saturday, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports. Rios spent the 2025 season in the Mets organization but made just two appearances at Triple-A Syracuse while spending most of the year recovering from an undisclosed injury. Now fully healthy, the 32-year-old reliever will add depth to the bullpen at Triple-A Iowa and is unlikely to make a significant contribution to the big club during 2026.

Rios (undisclosed) was activated from the 60-day injured list Thursday. Rios missed the majority of the 2025 campaign due to an unspecified injury but has since returned to Triple-A Syracuse. He had a rough outing Sept. 18 against Lehigh Valley, getting knocked around for four runs on three hits and one walk while striking out one, but he responded nicely with a scoreless inning Sunday.

The Mets reassigned Rios to minor-league camp Sunday. Rios attended the Mets' big-league camp as a non-roster invitee for the second straight spring, but he once again fell short in his bid for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. After seeing MLB action in six straight seasons from 2017 through 2023, Rios spent the entirety of the 2024 campaign in the bullpen at Triple-A Syracuse, logging a 3.30 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and 30:22 K:BB over 30 innings.