Rangers Moving Neftali Feliz To The Bullpen

Posted on June 24th, 2009 11:00am by Evan Grant
Filed under Rangers notes, Rangers prospects

PHOENIX - In hope of beefing up their bullpen for a pennant race, the Rangers have asked top prospect RHP Neftali Feliz to move from the starting rotation at Triple-A Oklahoma City to the bullpen. Feliz was told of the planned move on Tuesday and he will make his first relief appearance on Thursday for Oklahoma City. There is no timetable for when he may be promoted to the major leagues.

GM Jon Daniels suggested Tuesday the Rangers would probably look at internal options for improving the club more closely than at a bunch of trades. He also suggested, though more along the lines of a trade, that a bullpen piece might be the most realistic way to improve the club.

“If we’re going to improve the club, we’d like to be able to do it from within,” Daniels said on Tuesday while discussing trade possibilities. “We’ve got some young players that we’ve talked about who might be able to give this club a lift.”

There is precedent here. Any number of teams have taken top pitching prospects and inserted them into the bullpen for the pennant race. Most recently, Tampa Bay did it with lefty David Price in 2008, but Price didn’t come up until September when rosters were expanded. He was overpowering in five September appearances and valuable in the playoffs. Price returned to starting this season. Daniels declined to discuss any comparisons to the Rangers’ move with Feliz to Tampa Bay’s handling of Price.

Feliz, who turned 21 in May, is 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA at Oklahoma City. His No. 1 weapon is a fastball that will occasionally surpass 100 mph, but he’s been slow to develop really top-notch secondary stuff. Several scouts have projected him as more of a weapon as a reliever or future closer due to his well-above average fastball and his lack of a varied repertoire.

The Rangers aren’t ruling out a return to the starting rotation in the future, but they aren’t saying that this is only a temporary move.

“We still feel he may start for us in the future but we’re going to go down this path first,” Daniels said in an email.

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24 Comments to “Rangers Moving Neftali Feliz To The Bullpen”
  • Or @ June 24th, 2009 at 11:10 am

    I don’t like this; Seems like a decision based on myopia; the Rangers need to generate excitement and they want to build on early-season success to win this year. That’s all well and good, but Feliz needs to develop. He still has some control issues, he still hasn’t developed a reliable secondary pitch. He’s young enough to where those aren’t issues, but if the Rangers are willing to sell out his development for a few dozen innings of relief work, that just pisses me off.

  • Jack Daddy @ June 24th, 2009 at 11:30 am

    This really means that Feliz won’t start next year in the rotation. That MIGHT be ok, because that was a strong possibility anyway. Hear me out:

    1. Look at Price, he needed to go back to AAA to work on his secondary stuff this april/may, and he wasn’t pulled up until Sept. Its say to say that Feliz won’t have much chance to work on his secondary stuff once he gets pulled up.
    2. Next year’s rotation, barring a signing (not counting on Sheets) or injury looks like Milly, Feldman, McCarthy, Harrison and Holland. Hurley and Feliz figure to be the next two guys. Unless something went wrong with the top 5, Felize was looking at a AAA stint in April/May anyway.
    3. I like this better than trading for a reliever, but if you are making this dramatic move, why don’t you release Guardado and bring up Pirate Murray? I think I am done hearing about how good a guy and leader he is. You know what? I’m an aweseme guy and am an amazing leader. Trust me, you don’t want me sitting in the bullpen.
    4. Finally, I would have waited another month before doing this. The bullpen is NOT oour problem right now.

  • Matt in Austin @ June 24th, 2009 at 11:30 am

    The AAA bullpen, or the MLB bullpen?

  • JWH @ June 24th, 2009 at 11:41 am

    yeah, is this move to the AAA bullpen or the Ramger’s bullpen?

  • Evan Grant @ June 24th, 2009 at 11:43 am

    @Matt in Austin: For now the Triple-A bullpen, I’ve clarified in the story. The Rangers want to get him acclimated to the bullpen, see how he reacts before they move him to the majors.

  • michigan mike @ June 24th, 2009 at 11:56 am

    I like this move. Compare it to what the Tigers did with Joel Zumaya in 2006 when he turned his electric fastball into a late-inning set-up guy that was lights out. A box fell on his shoulder while evacuating his home during California brush fires or he would have been the Tiger closer by now.

    Zumaya’s intangibles made him a better reliever than starter at that point. We know nothing about Feliz’s intangibles just his raw skills. Give it a chance and he will prove if he is a starter or reliever by results.

  • Tsing Sao @ June 24th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    pure BS

  • Brett in SD @ June 24th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    If the Rangers view Feliz as a big league reliever for the foreseeable future, this is probably a good move. If they view him as a starter, I’m not sure Feliz gains anything by this.

    When other teams have moved minor league prospects from the starting rotation to the major league bullpen (e.g., David Price and Brandon McCarthy with the White Sox), the prospects had a pretty well-defined repertoire of pitches as starting pitchers and were getting exposed to MLB hitters in small doses from the MLB ‘pen. Feliz, on the other hand, really only has a fastball and needs to develop some off-speed stuff and I’m not sure how becoming a reliever in AAA or at the big league level helps in that development.

  • michigan mike @ June 24th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    @Tsing Sao

    Respectfully, what is “pure bs”?

  • J. Blake @ June 24th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    This added benefit of this move, other than fortifying the big league pen, is that the Rangers can ensure he’s available as a starter at the end of the season if needed by controlling his innings pitched.

  • Doug Fu @ June 24th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    “He also suggested, though more along the lines of a trade, that a bullpen piece might be the most realistic way to improve the club.”

    I don’t disagree that the bullpen needs help, but how in the heck will that help if you can’t get the bullpen into the game with a lead because you can’t hit?

  • thirdold @ June 24th, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    @Jack Daddy I agree with most of what you posted but if your intentions are to do this, you don’t wait a month. The bullpen isn’t an issue now but if it becomes a problem in the future and you think Feliz is viable out there then you make this move now to prepare him. It’s poor mgmt to wait until the problem happens before addressing it. I can forsee the offense improving to some degree, the defense holding steady and the starters giving similar results the rest of the way. If that happens and the pen goes to hell in a handbasket and there is no contingency plan…where does that leave them? Plenty of knowledgable folks have said they think Feliz will ultimately be at the backend of the pen. That’s not a horrible thing and if they’re speeding up the inevitable so be it.

  • Jed E. @ June 24th, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    Agree with Doug Fu. Have we just decided not to address our hitting problems?

  • obagain @ June 24th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

    What role will he play?
    Will he be long relief, set up or closer?
    Cant imagine he would close.
    Long relief would be doubtful also.
    So I would think it would be a 7th or 8th inning guy.
    Letting him have that role assures he will not work on his breaking stuff at all and will set him back in the long run if he is to be a starter.
    If they are giving up way too early and should be called out on a terrible decision.
    I would like to see aj come up and I would bring bourbon up to see what he can do, worst case he is a speedy pinch runner in the late innings.

  • Jack Daddy @ June 24th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    thirdold – I hear you. If he’s ready, he’s ready. This just doesn’t seem like the urgent move needed, but will be excited when he is up. I think he will be a great 7th/8th inning weapon (I think he will quickly elevate to those innings or get sent back down).

    I am curious as the to wording JD. They still “feel” he “may” start for them in the future? That’s not what they said about Holland and has be concerned about giving up too soon. Not that bullpen isn’t valuable, but if I was a Red Sox or Mariners fan, I would rather see Papelbon and Morrow starting. A elite starter gives you 200 IP? A bullpen guy gives you maybe 60?

    Other than the wording of JD’s release, I’m excited about this. I do find it weird they are putting him in the pen in OKC first. I’ve heard of stretching out and arm, but not “shrinking” one. I suppose they are trying to get a sense of how long it takes him to loosen up and whether he can pitch on back to days (something I’m not jazzed about).

    Again, though I keep coming back to whether this is addressing at all what ails us? Its like a fat women going to the tanning salon and getting her toe nails painted.

    I’m really afraid this team is going to ruin Davis now. Defense is great, but this has gone on too long. They are essentially playing with the pitcher hitting in the American League, only compoundng it by batting him 7th. That is 1/4 the problem, Hamilton missing is 1/4 the problem, and the approach at the plate is 1/4 the problem. The other fourth is what we expected and that is the young players involved (Cruz, Salty, Elvis) and you expect that.

    BTW, just spent 5 minutes on the DMN blog. I want to vomit. Evan, if any of those idiots migrate over here and bring that crap with them, I hope you will block their access.

  • scooper @ June 24th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    This is hilarious! Where are all of the folks who have been crying to bring Feliz up for the bullpen? If memory serves, it has been said many times that he would make a great late inning power arm for the bullpen for the pennant race. Never once has anyone talked about how it would set him back!

    Listen, guys, they are trying to use internal solutions to fix our problems. If the bullpen was good enough for Holland, it is good enough for Feliz. And trying it out in AAA is smart – some pitchers don’t adapt well to a relief role (Jason Jennings) and we should find that out BEFORE we bring him up. If this is not a viable solution, give up on it and put him back in the AAA rotation. If they want to move him back to a starter next year, this move will not preclude that. Did you really think he would break camp in the starting rotation next year? I figured May or June at the earliest because he does still have a lot of work to do.
    IMO, I think this is an excellent move and the best possible way to go about it.

  • obagain @ June 24th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    Scooper, so this will not set him back or be a problem but then you say he needs a lot of work.
    If he goes to the pen in aaa for 3-4 weeks and then you say it will be may or june next year now you would be looking at june or july before he would be ready after the failed experiment.
    If they bring him up I would be very happy, if they dont I just dont like the move.

  • Feliz to the bullpen @ June 24th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    [...] As per Inside Corner: [...]

  • Dave H @ June 24th, 2009 at 3:59 pm

    I really like this move. I’ve yet to be convinced whether Feliz’s future is in the rotation or the pen. While the pen isn’t this team’s biggest problem right now, we could definitely use more quality depth behind Franky, CJ, and O’Day. More than likely Feliz (if/when he’s promoted) would pitch the 6th or 7th for a while but could conceivably settle in to the 8th inning setup man for Franky. I’d also like for Guardado to accept a role off the roster as a coach/mentor of some sort to make room for AJ.

    It’s too bad that these moves would do nothing to chase the Rangers offensive woes. It starts with Chris Davis, but there isn’t really one hitter in the lineup right now that you have to pitch around. One thing’s certain; Chris Davis has to go for his own good. We’d be better off playing Vizquel everyday at first. I’ll bet he can catch the ball, and at least he won’t strike out in over 40% of his plate appearances.

  • Brett in SD @ June 24th, 2009 at 4:11 pm

    Johan Santana, Kelvim Escobar and Francisco Liriano were pretty good bullpen guys before converting to starters.

  • Jackson @ June 24th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

    Because of the state of the Rangers offense, I believe it’s a great move if Feliz can come out of the bullpen and hit clean-up.

  • DSM Gary @ June 24th, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    just my luck. been waiting all year for OKC to come to Des Moines next week so I could watch him pitch. oh well, maybe he will get some action anyway

  • Tsing Sao @ June 24th, 2009 at 6:44 pm

    plugging him in the bullpen is a good day, only if it’s in the major league team…

    Santana did it, a lot of other folks did it too.

    But the next year he needs to be plugged at the rotation, you don’t leave a top 10 baseball america prospect to the bullpen.

  • Rossometown @ June 25th, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    How many of you guys see Feliz pitch his bullpens and every start? As much as I want him to be a starter long term, I know what I see from him, and right now that is box scores and 2 innings against San Diego in March.

    Feliz will still work on his secondary stuff, even throw it in games!! If/when he gets to the bigs, you think Mad-dog wont be working with his secondary stuff as well? This organization hasn’t developed a top notch minor league system and competitive big league team for nothing, so I’m going to defer to them for judgement. I believe this will work out just fine.

    If you feel I’m a moron, please say so as I will respectfully debate my points.