Chicago Cubs Sign Best Remaining Reliever on the Free Agent Market
The Chicago Cubs have signed free agent reliever Hector Neris, formerly of the Houston Astros, to a one-year deal with a unique option structure.
Per Jeff Passan of ESPN:
Right-handed reliever Hector Neris and the Chicago Cubs are in agreement on a one-year, $9 million contract that includes an option for 2025, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN. The $9M team option converts to a player option at 60 games. Total max w incentives: $23.25M.
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.
He's a 10-year veteran of the Philadelphia Phillies and Astros. He's spent the last two years in Houston and has appeared in 141 games over the last two years.
A remarkably durable reliever, he's appeared in at least 50 games in every full season of his career, and appeared in 24 games during the pandemic 2020 season, which was nearly half of the games that season.
He's coming off an excellent 2023 for Houston, where he helped them get to the ALCS. He went 6-3 with that sparkling 1.71 ERA, striking out 77 batters over 68.1 innings.
Lifetime, he's 33-36 with a 3.24 ERA. Neris has 89 career saves, having served as the Phillies' primary closer in 2017-2019.
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