Héctor Neris signing made official

By: Jake Russell

As the Cubs made the Hector Neris signing official today, they had to clear a spot on the 40-man in order to make room for him. Unfortunately, that fell on Michael Rucker, the journeyman reliever who was part of the Cubs organization since he was drafted in the 11th round in 2016. He made relief appearances in parts of 2021, 2022, and 2023. The Cubs have a week to either trade, release, or waive Rucker. Despite a spotty MLB track record, Rucker may garner some attention. Rucker sported a 107 Stuff+ (according to Eno Sarris and Max Bay’s model) in 2023, though he has always struggled with command a bit. He could be an interesting option for a team to take a flier of sorts on.

The corresponding move, of course, was to add Hector Neris to the 40-man, meaning he passed his physical and the signing is official. The full details of the signing were also announced today, and they are somewhat complicated.

Hector Neris, Cubs
$9M/1 plus option

$9M – 2024

Club option 2025 $9M

Option becomes Player option if (a) 60g pitched or 45gf in 2024 AND (b) Player is not on IL final game in 2024 AND (c) Player is determined to not have a non-temporary impairment

Plus incentives
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 1, 2024

The first year is fairly straightforward, at 9 million dollars. The second-year club option can be turned into a player option in a variety of ways: if Neris pitches in at least 60 games OR finishes at least 45 games, he does not end the regular season on the IL, and he essentially passes a physical. I do think these three all go hand in hand. If Neris pitches 60 games, he was likely healthy all year and the Cubs shouldn’t be worried. It’s also worth noting Neris has pitched 60 games every season since 2016, aside from the Covid-shortened 2020 season and 2018 where he still threw 53.

Neris is coming off a very successful season where he had a 1.71 ERA (40 ERA-), and a 28.2 K%. Neris relies mainly on a four-seam fastball and splitter, though he did lose some velocity last year, I still do believe the Stuff is good. His splitter is his main calling card, and it picked up a whiff over 40% of the time it was swung at last season. (For reference, Mark Leiter Jr’s splitter picked up a whiff roughly 48% of the time–both marks well above league average).

I like the Neris signing a lot, and if you want to read my more in-depth analysis of him, you can go here, where I posted an article on him last week over on Medium.

Picture Credit: Troy Taormina, USA Today Sports