NL West Notes: Dodgers chase reliever Feliz, Kent struggles to garner Cooperstown votes

Neftali Feliz became somewhat of a household name around the baseball community back at the beginning of the 2010s, when he closed out games for the Texas Rangers during their run of back-to-back World Series appearances. The AL Rookie of the Year in 2010, Feliz has bounced around multiple organizations in the years since, but now he's attracting attention from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have vocalized their desire for another solid arm out of the pen.

The Dodgers have recently expressed interest in adding Feliz, who is coming off a 1-year deal with the Pirates. Feliz made 62 appearances for Pittsburgh in 2016 and walked away with a 3.53 ERA for the year.

The move could make the Dodgers bullpen, already rock-solid, possibly the best in the National League, and could hold a strong case for being one of the best the game has to offer.

Here's what else is happening around the National League West:

Former Giant Jeff Kent certainly had an illustrious career, but his chances of entering the Hall of Fame anytime soon are looking pretty slim. Kent played 17 productive seasons in MLB, and walked away with a .290 lifetime batting average and 2,461 hits. However, Kent was plagued by poor defense, as well as his general distaste for the media. These are just variables, but with just six years total on the ballot, Kent's status remains up in the air, and not in a good way.

Remember Colorado's Chad Bettis' cancer diagnosis from earlier in the fall? There's good news on that front! Bettis was declared cancer-free over the last week, and pending a surgery, he will be able to attend the entirety of spring training. After a self-check in November revealed a testicular growth, Bettis organized a surgery to remove the cancer, and the pitcher was given the all-clear this week. Look for Bettis to be a key piece of the Rockies' staff, as they counter with a continuously younger group.

Learn more about the Diamondbacks' lawsuit against Maricopa County, as the two sides continue their stalemate. Intensive arguments have risen over whether or not Chase Field is a "state-of-the-art" facility (the county will only continue to receive the proper allocated funds from the state to finance the stadium if it is deemed to fall under the "state-of-the-art" designation). It is only under this consideration that Chase Field will continue to be used as an MLB facility. The park is generally young--it opened in 1998--but increasing tensions between the county and their baseball tenants. Chase Field has done a good job of improving the overall culture of downtown Phoenix, but the problem comes when the Diamondbacks aren't in season; nothing's really going on there between the months of November and March, and that includes off-days during the season.

Chris Cannizzaro, the Padres' first All-Star, passed away on December 30 at age 78 after a battle with emphysema. Cannizzaro was a productive catcher that became one of the faces of the original Padres. Read more about the impressive career of Cannizzaro, as well as what he had to say about the past during the last year's All-Star festivities in San Diego.