The Atlanta Braves’ offseason was not exactly a work of art. If you had asked anyone in January what the team needed, they would’ve pointed to the bullpen and said, “Help. Lots of help.” But what actually happened?
They lost A.J. Minter to free agency and Joe Jiménez to knee surgery and brought in a crowd of hopefuls. Then, they threw the dice on Hector Neris in a late-spring twist.
A Gamble Without a Ramp-Up
Let’s be clear, Neris wasn’t a terrible idea. The guy’s got a solid track record with flashes of dominance.
The kicker was signing him so late that it meant skipping out on a full spring training ramp-up, and for a pitcher, that’s like asking someone to sprint a marathon without stretching.
Predictably, it didn’t end well. Two outings into the season, the Braves had seen enough. Poof—gone.
The Braves-Angels Pipeline Strikes Again
And where does Neris end up? With the Angels. The same team that’s practically built a pipeline with Atlanta lately, sending and receiving players like they’re swapping baseball cards.
Let’s not forget—these are the same Angels who plucked Ron Washington right out of the Braves dugout, and honestly, Atlanta hasn’t felt quite right since.
The signing itself is a classic low-risk maneuver. It’s a minor league deal with zero pressure and potentially high reward if Neris can find his groove again. And make no mistake, he might. He’s been good before.
But it’s still laugh-out-loud ironic that the Angels, of all teams, are the ones giving him a second shot—especially considering how many ex-Braves they’ve stacked up like souvenirs.
A Braves Bullpen in Limbo
So where does this leave Atlanta? Wounded bullpen, no Neris, and watching a familiar face trot out in a different uniform. If the Angels manage to fix him up? That’ll be salt in the wound.
But for now, all Braves fans can do is hope someone else steps up before they’re handing out bullpen invites at the Home Depot break room.
