Ranking 5 internal candidates to replace Adbert Alzolay as the Cubs closer

1. In a crisis, go with the guy who's got the experience: Hector Neris

Hector Neris has been pretty not great this year. There's no two ways around it. But, like Almonte, he's slowly rounded into form, which really shouldn't come as a shock given he's been as consistent and effective as they come for much of the last decade with Houston and Philadelphia.

The veteran hasn't allowed a run since April 8 in San Diego and, frankly, if the Cubs are going anywhere this year, they're going to need their key offseason bullpen addition to earn his $9 million paycheck.

Neris hasn't been a huge strikeout guy this year, but what he does incredibly well is keep the ball on the ground - something that should give us some sort of peace of mind because it's a lot harder to blow a save when guys are hitting ground balls than when they're regularly putting it in the air (just ask Alzolay).

Look, I get this isn't the sexy pick. The Wrigleyville faithful don't get hyped to see an almost 35-year-old come in from the left-field bullpen to close out a game. But this is a guy who's saved more than 20 games twice in his career, has a ton of experience for winning organizations and is your highest-paid reliever. If you need to stop the bleeding in the ninth, this is the guy have to turn to.