ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas Rangers declined a $9.25 million club option for Scott Feldman and a $1.2 million option for Yoshinori Tateyama on Tuesday, making both right-handers free agents.
Texas also reinstated right-hander Neftali Feliz from the 60-day disabled list and purchased the contract of right-hander Justin Miller from Triple-A Round Rock.
Feldman has spent his entire career in the Rangers organization since getting drafted in 2003. After winning 17 games in 2009, Feldman got a three-year contract that earned him nearly $14 million, including the $600,000 buyout he gets now.
He was the opening day starter in 2010, but has won only 15 games in the past three seasons while being hampered by a right knee injury that required surgery. His career record is 39-44 in 204 games (101 starts) since his major league debut in 2005.
Feldman was 6-11 with a 5.09 ERA in 29 games (21 starts) in an up-and-down 2012 season. After losing his first six decisions as a starter, he won the next five before losing five in a row.
Tateyama went on the disabled list the first week of the season because of a lower back muscle strain, then spent most of his season in the minors. He was 1-0 with a 9.00 ERA in 14 games with the Rangers this season, and 3-0 with a 5.75 ERA in 53 games the past two years since coming to Texas from Japan.
Feliz, who moved into the rotation after being the team's closer, had ligament transplant surgery in his right elbow Aug. 1. He was 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA in eight games (seven starts) before being put on the 15-day disabled list May 19, a month before the team transferred him to the 60-day DL.
Miller, the franchise's minor league reliever of the year in 2011, didn't pitch this season after having successful surgery to repair a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on April 18. He was put on unconditional release waivers April 23, and re-signed to a minor league contract April 30.
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