Major League Baseball

Rangers RHP Feldman gets 3-year deal

Published Apr. 3, 2010 1:19 a.m. ET

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Scott Feldman, who in less than a year has gone from long reliever to opening day starter for the Texas Rangers, now has a three-year contract worth nearly $14 million.

The 27-year-old Feldman is guaranteed $13,925,000 under the deal announced Friday before Texas' exhibition game at Rangers Ballpark, where the right-hander will start the opener Monday against Toronto.

``Nothing really came that easy for me,'' Feldman said. ``I had a lot of time when I was driving back and forth to Oklahoma City. I just stuck with it and tried to keep working hard and believe in myself. Here I am today. Hopefully this isn't something I just sort of stay here, I want to keep getting better.''

Feldman started last season in the bullpen and was inserted into the rotation April 25. He went 17-8 with a 4.08 ERA in 31 starts and three relief appearances in his first full season. Only four major leaguers won more games last season, and he led the majors with a team-record 12 wins on the road.

Before making the opening day roster last season, and being pushed to the bullpen when veteran Kris Benson made the rotation, Feldman had made more than a dozen trips back and forth between the Rangers and their minor league teams in Oklahoma City and Frisco, Texas, since making his first major league appearance in 2005.

He was a sidearm-throwing reliever who made 29 appearances out of the Rangers bullpen in 2007. They then converted him to a starter when he returned to the more traditional overhand delivery like he had when he was a 30th-round draft pick in 2003.

``He's a gamer, he has tremendous work ethic, he's learned how to use his stuff,'' manager Ron Washington said. ``He's developed his changeup, he's developed his breaking ball, he knows how to use his stuff early in the count, he knows how to use it late.''

Feldman keeps the $2,425,000 salary he agreed to in January under a one-year agreement, and the sides added guaranteed years at $4.4 million for 2011 and $6.5 million for 2012. Texas gets a $9.25 million option for 2013 with a $600,000 buyout.

``We talk a lot about being committed to our core group that we've brought up through the system and ultimately feel can be part of a championship this year and beyond,'' general manager Jon Daniels said. ``It's notable we're sitting next to a starting pitcher. ... We're very excited about committing to him.''

The Rangers during the offseason signed free agent right-hander Rich Harden to a one-year deal that guarantees him $7.5 million, with the anticipation that he would be their No. 1 starter. Instead, Feldman will start the opener and Harden is scheduled for the second game after a rough spring when he went 1-3 with an 8.87 ERA in six starts.

Feldman will become only the fifth pitcher signed and developed by the Rangers to start a season opener. The last was Kenny Rogers in 2004.

``He's just coming into his prime. He's always been a strike thrower,'' Daniels said. ``His best years will be ahead of him.''

Rangers president Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Famer who pitched a record 27 major league seasons, said Feldman has become an example for the rest of the pitchers with his work ethic.

``The continued improvement that we saw in him, with his pitches and his command, and his work ethic, we feel like he represents the best of what we want to see in our pitchers,'' Ryan said. ``Look at his delivery and know his work ethic and the way he applies himself, it gives you a level of confidence about his durability. We think he's going to be a starting pitcher that gives us a lot of innings.''

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