The Cubs will be adding a second team in the Arizona League (AZL) in 2018, which effectively means the Cubs will add 35 additional minor league roster slots (minor league reserve list slots) in the organization.
Former Cubs Player Development Director Oneri Fleita had proposed adding a second Cubs team to the AZL about seven or eight years ago, but it didn't go anywhere at the time.
So the Cubs two AZL affiliates will now match their two Dominican Summer League (DSL) affiliates, allowing young Latin players to be promoted from the DSL to the AZL with ease and then be retained for more years than has previously been the case.