SURPRISE, Ariz. -- It was an appropriate setting and an appropriate moment.

The Rangers are intent on rebuilding from the ground up, particularly on the pitching side. On Wednesday morning, with minor league pitching coaches crammed into the back of the room, the club celebrated the ascent of a self-made, homegrown pitcher to the ranks of the team's core.

Jose Leclerc, who received a relatively paltry $90,000 bonus nearly nine years ago and battled command problems early in his professional career, signed a four-year, $14.75 million deal to anchor the Rangers' bullpen through at least 2022. The commitment could grow to six years and $27 million if two club options are exercised.

It's a seemingly club-friendly deal, but it also represents the largest contract for an MLB reliever with at least two years of service, but who doesn't yet qualify for salary arbitration. Either way, it's a commitment to make him part of the team's nucleus.

"From where he came from to where he is now, one of the truly elite relievers in the game, an unbelievable amount of work has gone into it," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "He is truly self-made. He has earned every bit of this. He is a huge part of our club moving forward."

It's the kind of contract a team in the Rangers' position needs to make. They aren't close enough to win in 2019, but they are close enough to see a day when they might win again. The Rangers have already locked up Rougned Odor to a long-term deal. Now Leclerc.

Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara, who like Odor and Leclerc are 25 or younger, said they would be willing to talk about long-term deals. The Rangers approached both before 2018, but those talks didn't materialize into deals. It's conceivable the Rangers could revisit conversations with both this season or after it.

Leclerc, however, was too good to pass up. He elevated his performance to elite level last year, and he was more than willing to do a deal that, if it maxes out, averages just $4.5 million per year.

Flashback: How Leclerc became vital to the Rangers, including a devilish pitch that even fools his coaches

The deal not only sends a message to this team that the Rangers are committed to its young stars, but also sets a tone for the next wave of Rangers' pitchers.

"We've got a number of other young pitchers on the brink," Daniels said. "For them to look at Jose and what he's accomplished and what he's going to accomplish over the rest of his career, that's big. When you're around him and the way he goes about it, he wants to lead. He's the hardest-working guy we've got. He really sets an example for the young pitchers coming up through the system."

A year ago, Leclerc led the majors in swing-and-miss percentage (40.9) for pitchers with at least 50 innings. Making batters miss is essential in the current all-or-nothing game. It led to a 0.85 WHIP and .431 opponents' OPS, which ranked fourth and second in the majors, respectively. Not bad for a guy who was optioned to the minors. Twice. In April.

Who could blame the Rangers if they weren't completely convinced of what they were seeing. A year earlier, Leclerc walked 40 in 45 innings. He had great stuff, but erratic command. Late in that season, though, he started throwing his changeup more often and threw it to both sides of the plate. Depending on the grip, it can act similar to a cutter or a slider. The Rangers call it a "slambio" -- part slider, part change ("cambio" in Spanish). He threw the change 40 percent of the time last year, which made his 95 mph fastball play up a bit. No power pitcher threw the changeup as much.

"It's a huge weapon for him," said Triple-A Nashville pitching coach Eric Gagne, who had something of a career has a big league closer. "He knows where it is going to go. Closers who can throw the changeup tend to have more consistency. It can be hard to have the feel for a breaking ball every day, but that changeup is always there.

"And he's a guy that takes a lot of pride in everything he does -- even in fielding practice, he throws the ball perfectly -- so he's really perfected it. He's just a pro."

Gagne wasn't the only one saying that Wednesday.

"The fact he can throw it a couple of different ways sets him apart from everybody else," manager Chris Woodward said. "It's an elite pitch, and he has an elite fastball to go with it."

Woodward went on to add a story about Leclerc asking to pitch later in games this spring. The Rangers have lost some games late. Leclerc wanted the ball to protect those leads. The manager reminded him that earlier in games he's more likely to face major league hitters. Leclerc's response: He wanted to win.

So, Woodward obliged. That's the one thing that didn't go as planned Wednesday. Partly because of a dropped pop fly and an uncharacteristic walk, Leclerc exhausted his pitch count with two outs in the ninth.

One outing on March 6 certainly isn't going to change the way the Rangers feel about him.

"This kid is special," Woodward said. "He's completely invested in this."

On Wednesday, the Rangers invested in him.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant

Money matters

Breaking down the four-year, $14.75 million contract extension Jose Leclerc signed with the Rangers Wednesday. The full value of the contract could go as high as $27 million if two club options are exercised:

*-Also includes $2 million signing bonus

Swing and a miss

Among pitchers with at least 50 innings last year, Jose Leclerc's swing-and-miss rate of 40.9 percent led the majors. The top five pitchers in getting swings and misses:

Source: STATS, LLC.