Phillies news and rumors 1/14: Héctor Neris’ market reportedly awakening, with 2 AL frontrunners

Teams need Héctor — or at least, teams want him.

The free-agent market for the former Phillies reliever is starting to gain some traction, per a Saturday night report from MLB.com‘s Mark Feinsand, and the New York Yankees and defending World Series champion Texas Rangers are “emerging as potential frontrunners.”

Neris hit the market this offseason after two years with the Houston Astros, posting a 2.69 ERA and 1.03 WHIP across 141 total appearances in those two regular seasons, plus a 4.40 ERA (sunk by one bad ALDS outing) in 15 postseason games. Neris collected a nice $16 million across those two years and took down his former club in the 2022 World Series along the way.

That ERA includes a 1.71 figure in his walk year, which positions him as one of the better relief options on the market and explains his rejecting an $8.5 million player option for 2024, which turned then into a $1 million buyout.

Neris won’t command Josh Hader money — or years — but would serve as a nice addition for a competing team looking to add some stability to the back end of its bullpen. As Phillies Nation‘s Tim Kelly pointed out earlier this month, Neris leads MLB in reliever appearances since the start of 2016.

Perhaps his production spiking in Houston was a byproduct of the Astros not employing him as a closer — he saved just five games with the Astros after saving 84 with the Phillies, which climbed him up the franchise’s all-time saves leaderboard but, simultaneously, the blown saves one too, with 26. For what it’s worth, Neris wouldn’t necessarily need to close with the Yankees or Rangers: New York could give that job to Clay Holmes and Texas to José Leclerc, relying on Neris as a bridge in the later innings. Or, they could use Neris as a closer anyway, hoping that his career 89-for-120 success rate will regress to the mean somewhat.

Or, Neris could sign elsewhere, of course. Perhaps a team that’s seemingly finished with its major additions this offseason but could still benefit from some mid- to lower-tier moves, specifically in the bullpen. Perhaps a team Neris already knows quite well.

Must-read Phillies content

• Speaking of the Phillies’ bullpen — in case that didn’t quite land in the above paragraph — a few key relievers are among those entering contract seasons in 2024. Tim Kelly pointed those three out, plus a couple more.
• Raúl Ibañez is returning to Los Angeles for his second stint with the Dodgers. Destiny Lugardo has more on his new role.
• The Phillies reportedly had some interest in a couple big-fish southpaws, but Tim Kelly wrote about a recent report that suggests that’s no longer the case.
• Alec Bohm is the only Phillie potentially headed to arbitration this offseason. Here are Bohm’s salary wants and the team’s proposal.

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