Cubs finally release struggling pitcher, open the door for recently-acquired prospect

The high-wire act that is Hector Neris in the ninth is no more. At least not in Wrigleyville. After designating him for assignment and his clearing waivers, the Chicago Cubs have released the veteran right-hander ahead of Tuesday's series opener against Javier Baez and the Detroit Tigers.

Chicago brought in Neris to serve as a seasoned late-inning arm to bridge the gap to Adbert Alzolay in the ninth, but those plans quickly went off the rails. Alzolay was ineffective early in the year and injuries wound up ending his season altogether - and Tommy John surgery has his entire 2025 season in doubt, as well.

That combination of ineffectiveness and injury catapulted Neris into the ninth-inning role and, while his numbers weren't awful (17-for-22 in save opportunities), he rarely put together a clean inning and played with fire far more often than you'd like. Opponents carried an OPS of nearly .900 against him in save situations, including a .400 OBP - further evidence of those aforementioned control issues.

The move clears a path for right-hander Jack Neely, who has been lights-out since coming over from the Yankees in the Mark Leiter Jr. deal at the deadline. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the organization's #18 prospect - and he's carved up hitters at Iowa in recent weeks, striking out 13 in 6 2/3 innings of work. He'll get a chance to showcase his stuff at the big-league level over the next six weeks, perhaps gaining an inside track on a bullpen spot heading into next spring.

How Cubs' release affected Hector Neris' contract details

The big question for weeks now, has been how the Cubs would deploy Neris down the stretch. At 60 appearances, his $9 million team option for next year converts to a player option, which he would almost certainly exercise. But, according to Rogers and Sahadev Sharma, that is now a moot point, with the option 'disappearing' - which pulls more money off the books for Jed Hoyer and the front office.

Neris will probably latch on somewhere. There's a decent chance he finds a way to stabilize when put back in a familiar role. The closer's job was never a great fit and the results bore that out during his time in Chicago. It's a move that makes all the sense in the world for the Cubs - not only to avoid the option situation for 2025, but to see what they have in Neely, who has little left to prove at Triple-A.