Former Rangers Star Signs Surprise New Deal That'll Crush Texas Fans

When Ranger fans hear the name Neftali Feliz, they are immediately filled with thoughts of nostalgia and fond memories while reminiscing about the young flamethrower.

It was Feliz who struck out one of the most hated players amongst Rangers, fans Alex Rodriguez, to get the Rangers into the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Besides Feliz’s engraving himself in Ranger's history by striking out A-Rod, fans were enamored by the young pitcher due to the exuberance and passion he played the game with.

However, while looking back at Feliz’s career, fans are also forced to wonder "What if?" While Feliz came to Rangers with so much promise and potential, he quickly delivered on the latter and quickly emerged as one of the most dominant closers in the league. Even still, it seemed his career ended just as quickly as it had begun.

Unfortunately, his career in Arlington was short-lived due to a multitude of injuries, prolonged stints on the IR, and a few questionable decisions from the Rangers' front office at the time. 

Feliz shocked many when he resurfaced in the headlines last week as it was announced that he signed a contract with the Seattle Mariners. Feliz had been absent from the MLB for multiple years and was pitching in the Mexican League, where he has been able to rejuvenate his career and has shown flashes of the pitcher he was while with the Rangers. 

With Feliz on our minds, I will remind fans with a brief synopsis of his career just how dominant he was at one point and just how tragically and quickly his career slipped away from him.

A Historic Rise

At one time, Feliz was regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the country. In 2010, Baseball America ranked Feliz as one of the five best pitching prospects in the MLB. Feliz was eventually called up by the Rangers near the beginning of 2010 and quickly gained media attention due to his incredible velocity as he was pitching 100 mph or more nearly every night. He also made headlines for his ability to save games consistently for the Rangers as he quickly became one of the most dominant closers in the league as he accumulated over 20 saves prior to the All-Star break.

As the season progressed, Feliz became more comfortable in his role as closer and helped the Rangers clinch the divisional title in AL West for the first time since the 90s.  Feliz’s dominant play carried over to the postseason, where he played a significant role in helping the Rangers make it all the way to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Feliz closed out his postseason with a historically low 1.23 ERA, along with eleven strikeouts through seven games. 

After having unimaginable success throughout his rookie season, Feliz was awarded AL Rookie of the Year for the 2010 campaign. He also made his mark in the Rangers' record books by collecting 40 saves during the regular season, which gave him the record for having the most saves in a single season in franchise history.

Going into 2011, Feliz carried over his success from his rookie season and remained one of the most consistent closers in the league. He finished his sophomore season with the Rangers with a solid 2.74 ERA and earned 32 saves for the team during the regular season. 

Feliz was also able to sustain his postseason success with the Rangers as he finished the postseason with a 2.38 ERA and gained twelve strikeouts through eleven innings pitched. 

After two remarkable seasons in the MLB, it looked like Feliz was following in the footsteps of great closers ahead of him, like Marino Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, and was on pace to be in the same conversation as them one day as an all-time closer. However, Feliz’s career took an unexpected downward spiral once the 2012 season began.

Prior to the 2012 season Rangers GM Jon Daniels, along with the rest of the front office, made the questionable decision to take Feliz out of the bullpen and make him a member of the team's dismantled rotation that had lost All-Star pitcher CJ Wilson to free agency during the off-season and was still dealing with a handful of pitchers injured in the rotation including Matt Harrison who was still trying to return from an ongoing back problem. 

Feliz was forced to face big setbacks in young career

When the 2012 season first began, it seemed that the decision to put Feliz in the rotation might be okay as Feliz transitioned seamlessly into becoming a starter and quickly put up two wins in his first two appearances as a starter.  However, things quickly went south for Feliz and the Rangers' organization as he sprained his UCL near the end of May and was forced to undergo Tommy John Surgery. 

This was a devastating blow to Feliz and the Rangers as he was proving himself to be an excellent starting pitcher in the league and was carrying a 3-1 record along with a solid 3.16 ERA before he was forced to go on the IR.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery, Feliz was forced to miss the remainder of the 2012 season along with a significant amount of the 2013 season. Once he was healthy enough to return to the mound, the Rangers decided to put him back in the bullpen. While healthy Feliz was able to put up consistent numbers for the Rangers, finishing his 2014 season with a 1.99 ERA. However, he was only able to appear in 30 games due to a multitude of injuries he was dealing with. 

During the 2015 season, Feliz was still not able to give the Rangers the consistent innings they were looking for, and the team was forced to cut bait and release Feliz who was at one point one of the most promising young pitchers in the league.

After being let go by the Rangers, Feliz became somewhat of a journeyman and bounced around to a multitude of teams, including the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Kansas City Royals. While Feliz was still able to put up respectable numbers through the second act of his career, he was a far cry from the player he was with the Rangers during the first two years of his career. Eventually, he stopped getting opportunities to pitch in the majors and decided to join the Mexican League after several stints with different triple-a teams throughout the country. 

Looking for redemption

As mentioned earlier, Feliz’s pitching has been dominant in the Mexican League. He was able to revert and show flashes of the unbelievable pitcher he was a decade ago. He finished his final season in the Mexican League with an outstanding 1.75 ERA. Feliz’s surprising resurgence as of late is even more impressive when you factor in that he is now 36 years old and no longer the young flamethrower he once was with the Rangers.

Overall, it is great to see Feliz get another shot in the MLB, especially considering how tragically his time ended in Texas. Due to how dominant Feliz was in the first two years of his career, fans are forced to wonder how great of a pitcher Feliz could have been if he had remained healthy and if the Ranger's organization did not make the shortsighted decision to remove him from the bullpen and force him to become a starter. 

Feliz will always be somewhat of a tragic player in my eyes due to how quickly his promising career collapsed and how quickly he vanished from the league. Thankfully, there's still time for him to add a redemption arc to his career and show fans a glimpse of the kind of player he was when he first emerged into the league.

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