Neftali Feliz Wins AL Rookie of the Year

Today Neftali Feliz became the first Texas Ranger to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award since Mike Hargrove in 1974. To be honest, this result came as no surprise to Ranger fans around the country as we saw him save close games for us all year and into the playoffs.
I think we may be on the cusp of seeing this young man become one of the most feared closers in the game. He does his best work when he is in a tight spot and he was almost impossible to hit with the game on the line.
He set a rookie record with 40 saves and held hitters to a .176 batting average! Those numbers are astronomical for a kid his age and logic tells us that the best is yet to come. There is no reason to believe that Neffy can't continue to improve, especially with pitching coach Mike Maddux in the dugout.
When pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training this past February, two relievers were trying out for a spot in the starting rotation: CJ Wilson and Feliz. Only CJ won a spot  in the rotation and personally I could not be happier. Neffy stayed in the 'pen and showed the world he can be a dominant closer for a powerful team.
The season the Rangers got out of Neffy and Elvis Andrus have inspired talk about the long term future of this team. Are we seeing the next great closer and the next great shortstop in this league? Can they take the place of Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter when they retire? Those answers are yet to come but there is no reason to believe they can't be. Ranger fans everywhere should be very excited about what is yet to come with their closer and their team and after an American League Championship season, the future looks very bright.