Patient Cubs End Up Signing Good Reliever to Great Deal

The Chicago Cubs have reportedly signed free agent reliever Hector Neris. ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the news Saturday morning and it appears as though the Cubs have their high-leverage bullpen addition that they have been waiting to acquire all offseason long.

At first glimpse, seeing that Neris is being signed for one year and $9 million might raise an eyebrow. Is he actually that good if he can’t land a guaranteed multi-year contract? The short answer, yes, Neris is good, he’s been very good. The 34-year-old reliever has a career 3.24 ERA, averaging more than 11 strikeouts per nine innings. Neris has been a workhorse out of the bullpen ranking first in innings pitched since 2016.

While Neris’ fastball velocity took a bit of a dip in 2023 with the Houston Astros, the veteran was still able to dominate opposing batters and ended the season with a career-best 1.71 ERA in 68.1 innings. The contract does include an option for the 2025 season with the Cubs and it converts to a player option if Neris pitches in 60 games this year.

Neris can earn up to $23.25 million in two years with the Cubs.

The Cubs have been waiting most of the winter to strike, and in doing so with Hector Neris — who's coming off a season in which he had a 1.71 ERA in 68.1 innings — they get the best reliever left on the market, one who will pitch high-leverage innings on a team trying to win.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2024

Neris began his MLB career with the Philadelphia Phillies, making his debut in 2014. Since then, he’s only had two rough stretches, the first coming in the first half of the 2018 season and then a rough August during the 2020 shortened season that made his ERA look bad on paper.

The veteran does have experience closing games, recording 89 saves. However, most of those came from 2016-21 in Philadelphia. During his time with Houston, Neris posted a 2.69 ERA in 133.2 innings.

1/9 may seem kinda low for Neris but this is basically a 2-year deal if he wants it

60 games sounds like a lot but Neris is on the very short list of most durable relievers in baseball

via @Stathead, he leads all pitchers in appearances since his first full season in 2016: https://t.co/WPGjHfCoyq pic.twitter.com/zEYg09Qc26

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) January 27, 2024

Hector Neris is exactly what the Cubs needed to address their question mark for another high-leverage arm in the bullpen. Durable. Consistent. Nasty.

The splitter is from Hector Neris is nasty. It generated a .171 BAA, .211 wOBA, and 42.2% whiff rate in 2023.
pic.twitter.com/zXIay3auLi

— Greg Zumach (@IvyFutures) January 27, 2024

I imagine that Neris will come in as the set-up man, while Adbert Alzolay will remain as the closer. But as is stressed more often nowadays, you kinda just want your best relievers in the most stressful parts of games, so we might see some a combo of both in different situations.