ARLINGTON, Texas - The Rangers avoided salary arbitration with right-hander Neftali Feliz, agreeing Thursday with their expected closer on a one-year contract for $4,125,000.Feliz will get a chance this season to return to the full-time closing role he had for both of the Rangers World Series teams in 2010 and 2011. That was before an injury-plagued attempt to become a starter.Following Felizs deal, left-hander Ross Detwiler and designated hitter Mitch Moreland were the only remaining Rangers left in arbitration.Feliz was 2-1 with 13 saves and a 1.99 ERA in 30 relief appearances after rejoining Texas last July. He made $3 million.During the seasons when Texas won consecutive AL pennants, Feliz had 81 saves. He was within a strike of getting a save in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series against St. Louis and finishing what would have been the Rangers first title when he allowed David Freeses tying, two-run triple just over the glove of a leaping Nelson Cruz at the right-field wall. St. Louis won in 11 innings and took the title in Game 7.Texas added closer Joe Nathan on a two-year deal after that and made the hard-throwing Feliz a starter in 2012. Feliz went 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA in eight games before right elbow issues led to Tommy John surgery on Aug. 1, 2012.Feliz made six appearances at the end of the 2013 season after more than a year of rehab. He then spent the first half of last season at Triple-A Round Rock.Only a couple of weeks after Feliz rejoined Texas, the Rangers traded Joaquin Soria, the closer who had succeeded Nathan, and let Feliz work in that role again.Feliz is fourth in team history with 87 career saves, and his .179 career opponents batting average is the lowest in club history among pitchers with at least 200 innings.The 26-year-old Feliz will be eligible for free agency after the 2016 season. . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. .? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win.
http://www.cheapraptorsjerseysauthentic ... son-jersey. After making his All-Star debut in Fridays Rising Stars Challenge, the Raptors sophomore centre wont be sticking around for the duration of the weekends festivities, thinking about the big picture instead. .Y. -- That hangover from the Big East tournament is gone for Villanova. . Although Olivetti, a qualifier, had 13 aces, he failed to force a single break-point chance on Gasquets serve and lost his own three times. Gasquet next plays third-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who won had 18 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 win against seventh-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.(SportsNetwork.com) - Zdeno Charas return didnt result in a victory for the Boston Bruins the last time out, but the Bs hope to pick up just their second win in December when they host the struggling Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon. Chara played on Thursday for the first time since Oct. 23, but the big defenseman couldnt help Boston beat the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, who earned a 3-2 regulation win at TD Garden. The Bruins captain did not have a banner night in his return from a torn ligament in his left knee, putting just one shot on net and getting whistled for a pair of minor penalties in over 24 minutes of ice time. The Bruins went a respectable 11-7-1 while Chara was sidelined with his injury, but Thursdays loss was the clubs fourth setback in five outings. Boston fell behind 3-0 to the Blackhawks before mounting a comeback bid. Reilly Smith cut the deficit to two goals late in the second period and Torey Krug made it a 3-2 game at 12:17 of the third. However, the Bruins were unable to produce another goal to even the score. The effort was there from start to finish, but as you could see in that first period, the execution was poor, said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. Weve got to get better in those areas if we want to start winning some hockey games. Tuukka Rask managed just 18 saves in the loss as his team was outshot by a 34-21 margin in the game despite holding a 10-2 lead in shots in the third period. Rask has excellent career numbers against todays opponent, going 6-2-1 with a 2.12 goals against average in 10 lifetime appearances against Ottawa. Boston has dominated the Senators in recent meetings, taking two straight, eight of 11 and 16 of the last 20 encounters. Ottawa, which is 5-8-2 as the visitinng team this season, has dropped three in a row and nine of the last 11 matchups at TD Garden.dddddddddddd While the Bruins lost in Charas return from a 19-game absence on Thursday, the Senators failed to pick up a win the same night in their first game since firing head coach Paul MacLean. Dave Cameron replaced MacLean, the former Jack Adams Award winner, after he was let go on Monday, but the new bench boss lost in his NHL head coaching debut, as the Senators fell 5-3 to the visiting Los Angeles Kings. Anze Kopitar and Trevor Lewis scored less than two minutes apart early in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and help the defending Stanley Cup champions post the win in Ottawa. The two goals came shortly after Ottawas Mark Stone scored short-handed to tie the game at just 1:44 into the final frame. Cameron was elevated from assistant coach on Monday to replace McLean, who was fired after the Senators dropped 13 of their last 17 games. Ottawa was able to overcome the 2-0 deficit on goals by Bobby Ryan and Stone, but gave up three in the third period to fall to 1-4-1 in its last six outings. Jared Cowen notched a goal and an assist in the loss, with Craig Anderson stopping 31-of-35 shots for Ottawa. I dont think we can be too upset with the effort, said Cowen. We just have to bring it for the whole game. Ottawa played without defenseman Marc Methot (back) and forward Milan Michalek (upper body) for a second straight game and both players are questionable for Saturday. Meanwhile, enforcer Chris Neil suffered a knee injury on Thursday and is expected to miss at least a week. Todays tilt marks the start of a three-game road trip for the Sens, who also will play five of their next six away from Canadas capital. ' ' '
