Neftali Feliz and the Texas Rangers avoid arbitration

The Texas Rangers avoided arbitration with Neftali Feliz by agreeing to a one-year deal that was announced today. This isn’t much of a surprise after the success he had during the second half of last season.

#Rangers agree to deal with Neftali Feliz, avoiding arbitration, for $4.125 million in 2015.
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) January 15, 2015

During the second half of the season Feliz had a 1.88 ERA with 13 saves and 18 strikeouts. I think his stats would have been a bit better if the Rangers were playing better last season. Neftali Feliz like many of the other pitchers had their stats skewed because the offense and defense was lacking due to the number of injuries the team sustained during the course of the season.

When the season first started many didn’t know if he’d ever return to the same Feliz people saw during the 2011 season. But, after a lot of hard work and confidence from the team he managed to work his way back to the majors. Even after he worked his way back to the Texas Rangers he still didn’t look the same, but after he had a few games under his belt and saves he started to show he had regained the faith in himself and more importantly in his arm. By the end of the season he was finally reaching back and firing the ball near 98 MPH. Although he probably averaged in the mid-90s it was still a good sign that there still a bit of the pre-injury Feliz left.