2 Cubs that could factor into Prospect Promotion Incentive in 2026

Under Craig Counsell, the Chicago Cubs have embraced a strategy centered on stockpiling depth and seeing which players emerge. That approach paid off last season, especially in the pitching department, with Drew Pomeranz and Brad Keller breaking out and carving out significant roles.

This is not a new strategy, as it proved successful during Counsell’s tenure as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. Where the approaches differ, however, is that the Cubs division rival tends to gain more draft capital. As a smaller-market team, Milwaukee is able to accumulate additional picks through the competitive balance round, by trading away key players, or via compensation selections when top players are lost in free agency.

For Chicago, while fans often argue that the organization should spend more money, they do spend enough that makes them ineligible for competitive balance picks and from receiving compensation picks higher than the Competitive Balance Round B, which is where this years compensation pick for losing Kyle Tucker landed.

The Cubs have also held onto many of their core players since the major sell-off in 2021, when key contributors from the 2016 World Series team departed. As a result, they now possess less draft capital than their biggest rival, a franchise that has followed a proven blueprint for success, one that Craig Counsell knows well.

That said, if there is anyway the Cubs could gain extra draft capital, they should go for it. Looking ahead to 2026, there are two players who could accomplish that.

Two Chicago Cubs that could factor into Prospect Promotion Incentive in 2026

Prospect Promotion Incentive, or PPI, is a reward system in place that was designed to discourage teams from manipulating service time and utilizing younger players at the big league level. It awards teams an extra Draft pick if a top prospect, who was ranked in multiple preseason Top 100 lists, made the Opening Day roster, and subsequently wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top-three in MVP/Cy Young voting. 

This year, both Moises Ballesteros and Jaxon Wiggins are PPI eligible. Ballesteros did debut last year, but has his rookie status intact, thus keeping him eligible. Should either one of them win Rookie of the Year of finish in the top three in MVP/Cy Young, Chicago would be granted an additional draft pick after the first round in 2027.

Last year, Drake Baldwin of the Atlanta Braves and Hunter Brown of the Houston Astros awarded their organizations an extra draft pick. Baldwin was the NL Rookie of the Year while Brown was a Cy Young candidate. It’s entirely possible that Ballesteros or Wiggins could net the Cubs an extra draft pick, with the biggest looming factor for Wiggins being if he makes the Opening Day roster or not, as Ballesteros is poised a bigger role in 2026.

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