Major League Baseball

Rangers should keep Feliz in 'pen in '11

Published Mar. 10, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

This decision would be so easy if the Rangers still were the crappy old Rangers. Neftali Feliz would go from a closer to a starter and develop on the job.

But the Rangers are the defending American League champions, and Feliz is the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, and things aren’t as simple as they appear.

Everyone knows a 200-inning starter is more valuable than a 70-inning reliever. But the Rangers are trying to win this season. They lack an obvious replacement for Feliz in the ninth inning. And Feliz said it again Wednesday: He still feels like he’s a closer.

That’s enough for me — I’d keep Feliz where he is. So would three teammates I spoke with. As for manager Ron Washington, he made his feelings pretty clear over the winter, saying he would put Feliz or setup man Alexi Ogando in the rotation only as a “last resort.”

Washington, of course, is paid to win now. The last thing he probably wants is to make Ogando or fellow right-hander Mark Lowe his new, and unproven, closer. Feliz, 40 for 43 in save chances last season with a 2.73 ERA, represents a worry-free zone.

I don’t buy the “anyone can close” argument; most people on the field will tell you otherwise. Yet this is not a slam-dunk, black-and-white, I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong discussion. In fact, the argument for Feliz as a starter is more compelling than the argument for him as a closer.

How did the Rangers get to the World Series last season? Behind a dominant starter, left-hander Cliff Lee. How did they lose the World Series? By getting shut down by the San Francisco Giants’ superior rotation.

Feliz is the Rangers pitcher with the best chance of becoming an ace. I just think the team would be better off waiting a year to make the switch.

Few teams like to pay big money to closers, but the free-agent market will be flooded with such pitchers next offseason, enabling the Rangers to sign one at the right price. At that point they could tell Feliz, Washington and everyone else: That’s it, Feliz is going to start, end of debate.

Right now, because of Feliz’s ambivalence about joining the rotation and the uncertainty that such a move would create in the bullpen, it’s just too soon.

Funny thing, though — Feliz, however unwitting, made a powerful case for himself as a starter Wednesday by pitching three scoreless innings against the Oakland A’s.

A scout sitting behind home plate was practically beside himself at one point, saying, “He’s throwing a cutter! He doesn’t need to be throwing a cutter!” Not as a closer, he doesn’t. But if Feliz starts, the cut fastball that he broke out in a game for the first time Wednesday could prove rather handy.

Feliz said he mixed in about 10 cutters with his electric fastball, curve and changeup; his last three pitches registered 87, 88 and 98 mph. Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux called the assortment “very appetizing.”

“When he goes out and throws like that, we’re like, ‘Oh wow. Start auditioning (other closers). Who’s got the belly for it? Who’s got the resiliency?’” Maddux said.

Feliz seemed happy with the cutter and happy that he threw all of his pitches for strikes. But that doesn’t mean he views himself as a starter.

“I’m still feeling like a closer because of a whole season closing,” Feliz said in Spanish with Rangers pitcher Pedro Strop translating. “But the more time I get on the mound as a starter, I’ll start feeling better, like I did today.”

How would he use himself if he were making the decision?

“I would put myself in whatever situation would help the team most.”

Heck, Feliz didn’t even bite when I suggested to him that he could make far more money as a starter than as a reliever. Feliz, responding in English, smiled and said, “I’m working.”

For a kid from the Dominican Republic, at least for now, that might be enough.

Maddux, in an extended conversation with three reporters, saw both sides of the debate. But clearly, he is intrigued by the idea of Feliz as a starter. He also believes that Feliz would embrace the role.

“I do,” Maddux said. “I think big-time.”

A number of baseball’s top starters are converted relievers: Braves righty Derek Lowe, Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright, the Rangers’ own lefty, C.J. Wilson. Feliz started in the minors with both the Braves and Rangers, but at 22 is younger than any of those pitchers were when they made the switch in the majors.

No wonder he is uneasy.

“I don’t blame him,” GM Jon Daniels said. “He said he’s open to either, but he’s more comfortable closing. It’s hard not to see his point. The guy was just the Rookie of the Year, dominant for 40 saves. I understand that. The question is, what’s best for him, what’s best for the team.”

Therein lies the debate.

Washington presently is committed to only two starters, Wilson and righty Colby Lewis. Lefty Derek Holland, who was brilliant on Wednesday, easily could claim a third spot.

Righty Tommy Hunter won 13 games last season. Lefty Matt Harrison is throwing well. Righties Brandon Webb and Scott Feldman, recovering from injuries, could contribute later in the season. And Ogando represents another possibility.

One teammate said that while Feliz’s breaking ball and changeup are improving, they are only good enough to keep hitters off his fastball for one inning. Another player said that Ogando makes greater use of his changeup than Feliz.

Ogando, unlike Feliz, prefers starting to relieving. He had one of the Rangers’ best outings this spring against the Giants. Maybe he should move into the rotation.

Either way, the Rangers would lack an ace, just as they did last season before acquiring Lee. Feliz could indeed evolve into that pitcher, but I doubt it would happen right away. And if he struggled, a new set of problems would arise.

Wait one more year. Commit to the plan. Then turn Feliz loose as a starter, once and for all.

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