Cubs DFA Neris. Cleared Waivers. Jack Nealy called up.

[Jason Ross]

 

[Jason Ross]

Bringing up Nealy who could end the season in the back-end reliever circle with guys like Porter Hodge and Tyson Miller moving into next year. Good bit of business.

[Tim]

Unexpected...and yay!

[Bertz]

Woah!  Love that Neely's coming up, a bit surprised at Neris actually getting axed.  I was a bit worried they had to hold onto him for the sake of his option, but this makes that pretty clearly not the case.

[Manny Trillos Brother]

Does this get us back under the LT threshold? It's gotta be close.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Manny Trillos Brother said:

Does this get us back under the LT threshold? It's gotta be close.

He wasn't claimed. So another team will have to sign him, then we will only get a pro-rated league-minimum credit back. I'd guess we don't.

[CubinNY]

and wow. 

That's one to the good side of the ledger. 

[WhyCantWeWin]

Neris was so good right, no one wanted him or his lousy contract. Great job again Jed, at least he prevented Counsell from getting him his option for next year. 

[jersey cubs fan]

Weird timing with the half dozen “the cubs are over the LT threshold” stories that came out in the past week. The team obviously wanted that story out there in the dog days 

[Banedon]

14 appearances short of vesting his $9mil option for next year.

[LBiittner]

Curious. If HECTOR reaches 14 appearances with new team, does it vest next year with new team? Or is the slate wiped clean

[LBiittner]

Weird prediction: cards sign HECTOR. HECTOR becomes lights out and leads them into final wildcard position. Cards pull a 2023 D'backs. HECTOR becomes W.S. hero!

On 2nd thought NAH

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Curious. If HECTOR reaches 14 appearances with new team, does it vest next year with new team? Or is the slate wiped clean

Ultimately I think it's dependent on specific contract language, but based on how incentives have been described in other situations I think it's safe to assume that 14 appearances on a new team would convert the option to Player.

[Bertz]

Jesse says the option just goes poof

 

[Wilson A2000]

Only way for Counsell to stop using him as closer is to DFA him. And the Cubs don’t have to pay his player option (not sure how that works). 

[Bertz]

 

 

[Irrelevant Dude]

I'm all for this move as it keeps Neris off the roster next year, but I find it a bit surprising.  Obviously Neris is overpaid, but that is a sunk cost.  Taking that out of the consideration, are there really 8 better relievers on the roster?  Neris isn't a guy I want closing games, but he has been relatively solid for most of the year.  I'm not sure how this can be seen as anything but a "make sure the option doesn't vest" move, which is fine from a business standpoint but looks a bit strange on the baseball side with regard to assembling the best bullpen for the remainder of 2024.

[mul21]

1 minute ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I'm all for this move as it keeps Neris off the roster next year, but I find it a bit surprising.  Obviously Neris is overpaid, but that is a sunk cost.  Taking that out of the consideration, are there really 8 better relievers on the roster?  Neris isn't a guy I want closing games, but he has been relatively solid for most of the year.  I'm not sure how this can be seen as anything but a "make sure the option doesn't vest" move, which is fine from a business standpoint but looks a bit strange on the baseball side with regard to assembling the best bullpen for the remainder of 2024.

I think it's much more tied to wanting to get a look at Neely against ML hitters to find out what you have for next year or if there are adjustments he needs to make.  The 40/26 man roster spot had to be a consideration, especially when you're looking at maybe guys like Birdsell and Killian needing innings to finish the year with the Cubs.

[jersey cubs fan]

30 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Jesse says the option just goes poof

 

I believes he’s saying it goes poof as it pertains to the risk the cubs have of the player option vesting under their watch. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

11 minutes ago, mul21 said:

I think it's much more tied to wanting to get a look at Neely against ML hitters to find out what you have for next year or if there are adjustments he needs to make.  The 40/26 man roster spot had to be a consideration, especially when you're looking at maybe guys like Birdsell and Killian needing innings to finish the year with the Cubs.

That makes sense, but the surprising part is that is occurred now when the Cubs still have some faint hope of competing for the Wild Card spot, rather than riding it out for a few more weeks and then making these types of moves in September when/if it is obvious that there is absolutely no chance of making the playoffs.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I could probably be convinced of either removing Neris or adding Neely being the primary motivation.  Neris wasn't pitching poorly on the whole, but the pen doesn't have a bunch of optionable guys and the 40 man already has a lot of pitchers not easily removed thanks to the glut of 60 day IL guys.  On the other hand, they're using a 40 man spot on Wingenter who they just claimed in August, Neris was still pitching in leverage situations, and we're 10 days from roster expansion making it easier to add to the pen.  So if I have to pick I think this is more about the option.

[Andy]

1 hour ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

Neris was so good right, no one wanted him or his lousy contract. Great job again Jed, at least he prevented Counsell from getting him his option for next year. 

Getting Neris uncomfortably close to vesting that option was about the only thing Counsell was consistently doing well the past couple months.

[CubinNY]

2 minutes ago, Andy said:

Getting Neris uncomfortably close to vesting that option was about the only thing Counsell was consistently doing well the past couple months.

yes, he's not the difference maker I thought he would be. However, this team is not well put together.

[NorthsideAvenger]

 Rumor was the Cubs offered a 1 year extension at 5 mill and the Cubs would tear up the option. Neris balked at the idea.

Edited August 20, 2024 by NorthsideAvenger

[Bertz]

44 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I'm all for this move as it keeps Neris off the roster next year, but I find it a bit surprising.  Obviously Neris is overpaid, but that is a sunk cost.  Taking that out of the consideration, are there really 8 better relievers on the roster?  Neris isn't a guy I want closing games, but he has been relatively solid for most of the year.  I'm not sure how this can be seen as anything but a "make sure the option doesn't vest" move, which is fine from a business standpoint but looks a bit strange on the baseball side with regard to assembling the best bullpen for the remainder of 2024.

I think it's a shift in focus to prioritizing the 2025 bullpen with an added bonus of Neely having a decent shot of being better than Neris immediately.

While the bullpen has been shockingly effective lately, it hasn't been paired with a lot that makes you confident for next year.  Swapping out Neris for Neely gives you another shot at a guy who can put himself in position for you to feel great about him heading into the winter.  Frankly I'm hoping they pair this with moving out Roberts for someone Counsell's more willing to give leverage work.