Major League Baseball

Cutting ties with Feliz means saying goodbye to an era for Rangers fans

Published Jul. 7, 2015 8:10 p.m. ET

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The Rangers said goodbye to reliever Neftali Feliz when they designated him for assignment on Saturday.

They actually said goodbye to the old Neftali Feliz long before granting him his independence on the Fourth of July.

The Feliz who recorded 72 saves in his first two seasons hasn't been seen for years. That Feliz disappeared after Tommy John surgery, which followed an attempt to convert himself to a starter.

Since then, there's been speculation that the conversion to starter brought on the arm trouble. But as Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said, if a ligament is going to tear, it's going to tear whether you're starting games or ending them.

At best, starting in 2012 may have hastened the injury, but remember that nearly young pitchers want to be starters. Even terrific young closers like Feliz, who won the American League Rookie of the Year in 2010 with 40 saves. Starters make more money, plain and simple.

After the surgery, Feliz was never the same pitcher. He no longer had the effortless velocity that made him so effective in 2010-11.

He can still pitch, it just doesn't come as easy to him. He was given a shot to be the closer this season and was eventually surpassed by Shawn Tolleson and others.

Some Rangers fans who still vividly remember Feliz as a key component of back-to-back World Series teams may think the Rangers are making a hasty decision. After all, Feliz is only 27 and can contribute to a Texas bullpen that needs a lot of help.

The problem is, Feliz can't contribute where he fits best as a late-inning closer or setup man. The Rangers have better options than Feliz right now. Feliz wouldn't be content as a middle-inning mop-up guy, so why make him suffer through the rest of the season in a reduced role?

Cutting ties with Feliz offers him a chance to prove he can still be a back-end of the bullpen guy. He will just have to do it somewhere else.

A change of scenery could help. He could suddenly regain the magic in his arm. It's possible he could become the old Feliz again. But it's not going to happen in Arlington.

You can't blame Rangers fans for wanting an immediate return to the glory days at the start of the decade. They saw flashes of it with the return of Josh Hamilton, only to be brought back to reality with Hamilton's injury habit.

Feliz might have shown flashes of 2010-11 if given another shot, but that's all they would be. Flashes. It's best to leave those to memories so the Rangers and Feliz can move forward.

Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire

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