On Monday, the Cubs cut ties with reliever Hector Neris after a rocky half-season with the team. Neris immediately cleared waivers and seems to have found a new home elsewhere.
According to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2, Neris is returning back to familiar territory as he is signing a major league deal with his former team, the Houston Astros.
It feels like it was a quick turnaround for Neris, who truly is having one of the weirdest seasons in Major League Baseball. Dubbed “Heart Attack” Hector by his Cubs teammates, the former Cubs closer season numbers don’t speak for how much he struggled with Chicago.
Neris currently boasts a 3.89 ERA on the season in 46 appearances and got most of the Cub’s save opportunities throughout the season. His underlying numbers, though, tend to show that his season has not gone as pretty as it might seem. Neris had a walk rate of 13.3%, leading to many of his issues with the team, including a 4.36 SIERA.
The Neris decision made sense on the Cubs’ end. Not only did his performance with the team lead to parting ways, but also his contract situation with the team made it more than obvious. In the off-season, he signed a one-year, $9 million deal with the Cubs but had a club/player option for 2025. If Neris had reached a certain number of appearances with the team, he likely would’ve opted back into his deal for 2025, which Jed and Company likely wouldn’t have wanted to deal with heading into next season.
Now Neris returns back to familiar territory in Houston, where he had plenty of success. He won a World Series in Houston, where he played a pivotal role out of their bullpen.
Does it make sense to Cubs fans that Neris got picked up so quickly? Probably not. Does it make sense for the Astros that they went and grabbed him? Yes. Houston already has a great bullpen, and Neris likely won’t have to be in a role similar to what he had in Chicago. Plus, I mentioned his former success with Houston, and potentially returning to the place where you already had success would make him turn around his season.
Nonetheless, the Cubs made the right move. I’ve never seen the Cubs fanbase as critical of players as they were of Neris during his time with the team. He was given the nickname, Heart Attack for a reason. It never felt like Neris had a clean outing during his time with the team. Now did he manage to get out of it at times, yes, but the risk was to high and his 5 blown saves in all reality felt like it could’ve been in the territory of double digits.
Neris will look to turn his season around with Houston, but as for his time with the Cubs, good riddance. Looking back on the off-season, it is confirmed that Neris was the team’s worst move. Jed and Company understood that and likely made the right move.
