Cubs Part Ways With Veteran Reliever Héctor Neris, Lighten 2025 Payroll

The Héctor Neris era in Chicago has been tidily terminated--in direct contravention of the way he often finished games as the primary closer-by-default for Chicago. Neris was a disappointment in his role, pitching to a 4.09 ERA and a WHIP of 1.52. These numbers seem better than the actual experience of watching High Wire Hector, or Nerve Inducing Neris, or any other use of alliteration to describe the feeling of watching him in a stressful moment.

So was this a terrible move by Jed Hoyer? Did his bullpen construction fail him?

Neris was a star in his last season in Houston. He totaled a 1.71 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched. His FIP, however, reflected a possible skill erosion at age 34, at 3.83. Control was not an issue; Neris was a key part in the Astros bullpen. Neris was inked to a $9 million deal for this season, and was expected to fill a key setup role in the bullpen.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, Adbert Alzolay (as he has done every year of his career) went down with an injury, and was unable to fill the closer role. Neris filled in and, to his credit, recorded 22 saves. He did blow five of them, and anecdotally, he reminded long-time Cub fans of Dave Smith, Joe Borowski, and Mel Rojas--pitchers who should have been sponsored by antacid companies, given how much money they made for them. It was a bumpy, bumpy ride, and not the fun kind.

Now Neris is gone, and there will be some implications. First of all, there is an obvious financial component. This move prevents Neris from reaching a vesting option for next season. If he had made 60 appearances or 45 games finished and finished the season healthy, he would have gained the right to trigger a $9 million option for next season, matching this year's salary. It made no sense for the Cubs to permit that, not out of craven greed, but because Neris simply hasn't earned the right to stay on the roster through the end of the season. He was precisely replacement-level, according to Baseball Prospectus, with 0.0 WARP in his 44 innings of work. Cutting such a player isn't a question of dodging potential future obligations; it's just replacing a player whose performance merits replacement.

As far as the on-field product, Craig Counsell's career pattern has been to select a primary closer.  Of course, Josh Hader and Devin Williams aren't walking through that door. We will probably see a primary closer emerge for the stretch run. Jorge López already has a converted save in his stats, so he probably will get the first crack at it. Porter Hodge should have a prominent role, too; Counsell can mix and match from there. Gigantic human Jack Neely will be an interesting follow for the rest of the season, as his fastball touches 98 and he has a wipeout slider at 84-88 mph. The bullpen will not suffer short- or long-term damage due to this move.

Hoyer has proven adept at building a bullpen on the fly, but he has failed in his past two seasons to build one from the beginning of the season. Mark Leiter Jr., Julian Merryweather, and Adbert Alzolay were nails in 2023; they also had extensive injury histories. Neris had some red flags in his profile. Hoyer didn't do his job well enough in projecting his pitching staff. When you add Ben Brown, Hayden Wesneski, Jordan Wicks, Daniel Palencia, and Luke Little injuries, we might have enough data to ask whether the Cubs need to adjust something to keep their young arms healthy. If they can do that, Hoyer's acumen in adding pieces can be used to better effect.

To Cub fans, Neris was emblematic of the bullpen's struggles to remain healthy and effective. By all accounts, he was well-liked in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, his high-wire act never gave way to a more stable showing. It wasn't his fault that he was forced into the closer role; that was a reflection on the poor job by the front office. It was a fine move, however, and marks a clear pivot toward the future for a team that needed to let go of the idea that it built itself into a winner last winter.