Very light return for a relief arm with excellent peripherals, Statcast data, and 3.4 years of cheap control.

I was initially horrified by the Cubs return, but upon a bit more review, there’s a lot to like about Neely.

Arizona Phil loves it for the Cubs. Interesting… “Ben Cowles was the SS and Matt Shaw was the 2B at Maryland in 2021 when Cowles was a junior and Shaw was a freshman. I saw Cowles play SS in the Arizona Fall League last year with the Mesa Solar Sox (Cowles played SS and James Triantos played 2B), and he was one of the best players on the Solar Sox. He projects as a bat-first utility middle-infielder in MLB but he is a legit SS defensiveley. RHRP Jack Neely is 6'8 and he has an unhittable SL and projects as a high-leverage RP in MLB. Both Cowles and Neely are Rule 5 Draft-eligible post-2024 and both will likely be added to the 40 in November, Neely possibly even sooner. This was a GREAT trade by the Cubs.”

MLB Trade Values points out that Leiter's ERA should be in the low 2's, but he was the victim of a tiny strand rate, which only makes the deal look worse on paper. Quite frankly, I've been down on him since the second half of last year when he lost the feel for his splitter. But he's seemed to have gotten it back and pitched well this year. I can easily see him making starts for the Yankees. At a measly cost of a prorated 1.5 million and 3 more years of control after that. Regarding the return, Neely has size and throws 96. But that begs the question why the Cubs haven't called up Michael Arias or Cam Sanders, who throw even harder. Plus, they added Pearson and have Merryweather, who throw in the high 90's. Cowles projects as a backup infielder. It's unclear what the goal was here. The Cubs need a reliable closer and help behind the plate. Leiter is maybe the best reliever on the team. Not sure why they could not have packaged him with some other talent to address their needs. It's a F trade, even if Neely and Cowles pan out, because it seems Jed could have gotten so much more.