The Rangers best pitching prospect (and now that Price and Hanson have been called up, arguably the bet pitching prospect in the game not tied to SF) Neftali Feliz, has been moved to the bullpen in AAA. They will see how he adjusts there and if all goes well he will be called up to improve the Rangers bullpen. The Rangers did this earlier in the year calling up Derek Holland to pitch out of the pen until he moved into the rotation.
Now, I know what you are wondering, did I bring this up to mention Joba again? You betcha. Last night Joba had one of his best starts this year throwing 6.1 innings striking out 5 with no walks, and giving up only 2 earned runs. Pretty good right? One would say that's better than a scoreless 8th inning, especially considering that in June the Yankees pen has an ERA under 3 and a k/9 over 9. I'm not sure what the Rangers plan on doing with Feliz for the duration of this year, will he be there just to help out the pen like the Rangers are saying, or will he be eased into the rotation like Derek Holland has been? Forget the fact Holland hasn't been that successful in the rotation after a few starts, bringing up pitchers and easing them into the big leagues is a fine idea. So is using all your resources to win baseball games, and the Rangers currently tied for the lead with the Angels in the AL West should try to do just that.
My point here (if I have one) is that if Feliz pitches admirably out of the bullpen this year, the long term plan is for Feliz to be a starter. It's a known fact that a pitcher, any pitcher really, pitches better out of the bullpen than the rotation, so regardless of Feliz' success he'll be a starter, just like Joba. If the Yankees decided to rest Joba's arm in 2007 instead of bringing him up as a reliever, would anyone in the world think that a 23 year old with an ERA under 4 be turned into a reliever so he can be "groomed" as a closer, a position which may not be open for 2 or 3 years? Umm, I don't think so. Bottom line: this is a smart move by Texas, just like it was for the Yankees and I think both situations will work out fine, it already has for the Yankees.
UPDATE: Fangraphs has a post about this same subject. They disagree with me pretty much 100% calling it a demotion and a stupid move. They definitely are more educated on this than I am, but I kind of assume he's being eased into the big leagues for a future rotation spot. I said it's also good for a team to try to win a division, and I guess I still stand by that, but if the Rangers plan to use Feliz in the pen for the entire year, than yea it's dumb move. Unless of course the Rangers feel his future is in the bullpen in which I can't necessarily blame them, but they haven't said that yet and half a season in the pen would kill his innings totals that he would need for next year. So bottom line I think the Rangers are bringing him along slowly to the majors in the bullpen to help that weakness but only for a temporary amount of time until he is put in their rotation (which Carruth aptly says also stinks), which I have no problems with. If they keep him there for the entire season while Padilla, McCarthy, and Harrison stink then I have a big problem with this, but I'll give Daniels and the Rangers the benefit of the doubt for now.
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