While we wait for the offseason proper to really get going, and for Gleyber Torres to decide whether he’ll accept or refuse the Detroit Tigers qualifying offer, the club made a small move on Wednesday. Former closer and noted turtleneck enthusiast, Alex Lange, was designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster was then used to claim RHP Dugan Darnell off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 28-year-old Darnell is actually a Northville, Michigan native and a graduate of Adrian College. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Colorado Rockies and made his pro debut back in 2021. He spent five years in the Rockies farm system before making a brief major league debut in 2025. A hip injury cut his season short, and the Rockies placed him on waivers only for the Pirates to claim him on October 31. He was then designated for assignment again last week, with the Tigers claiming his rights today.
The key feature here probably won’t surprise you. Darnell has posted good strikeout rates in the minors, and he has a distinctive cutting splitter that the Tigers are no doubt intrigued by, as well as plus extension to the plate. His 94 mph fourseamer and 82 mph slider are both solid pitches but nothing standout. As you’d expect from a reliever who strikes out 27-28 percent of hitters at the Triple-A level and is excellent at limiting home runs, who hasn’t broken through at the major league level, walks remain the key issue for him.
There is a bit of wow factor in the splitter, and the Tigers continue to lean into their love of splitters and sweepers both at the major league level and on the farm. If the Tigers can help him be more consistent they may have a pretty solid arm here, but that’s a big question mark, of course. The Rockies are a pretty miserable club in terms of player development, particularly with pitchers, and the Tigers will no doubt expect to do better. The obvious first step is to find a way to use the fastball less. He throws it about 50 percent of the time, and you can predict that percentage will drop somewhat in favor of more splitters unless they can really unlock more movement on the heater.
They’ll have time to work with him as Darnell has all three options remaining, so they don’t necessarily need him to be ready on Opening Day. Instead they can work with him through the offseason and see how things go in spring camp. Of course, the waiver claim wheel keeps spinning all offseason long as well, so it’s entirely possible the Tigers will come across another pitcher they like better and swap out Darnell along the way.
As for Alex Lange, this would be a tough way for his tenure with the Tigers to end. It’s possible that the 30-year-old right-hander could return on a minor league deal, but probably the stuff is going to intrigue some other teams. Lange recovered his fastball velocity when he returned after 14 months away in August of this year. He was sitting comfortably at 96 mph with his sinker at the Triple-A level. The extremely hard curveball that was his ticket to major league success continues to draw plenty of whiffs, and he’s developed a solid, if inconsistent, changeup as well.
The problem remains his inconsistent control with the attendant high walk rates, and that’s an issue he’s never been able to conquer. Since his peak 2022 season he’s been trending in the wrong direction. His performance declined in 2023-2024, and in June 2024 he suffered a right lat avulsion, essentially muscle separating from bone due to a tear in his latissimus dorsi tendon, that sent him under the knife and cost him most of the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Probably if the Tigers don’t make a real effort by overpaying him on a minor league deal, another team is going to want a crack at him, hoping that the second year after surgery will see improvement.
Lange posted a 4.62 ERA/3.88 FIP for the Toledo Mud Hens in 2025, making 26 appearances and throwing 25 1/3 innings of work. His strikeout rate was 29.6 percent, against a walk rate of 14.3 percent, though he continued to limit home runs and put up a 0.77 HR/9 mark.
The Tigers need swing and miss in their bullpen. So it’s a bit odd to give up on Lange, but the issue is probably the fact that he’s reaching arbitration eligibility for the first time and only has one option remaining. Of course the bigger issue is the one that cost him his major league gig in the first place. Lange has never been able to get the walks under control, and unless he finally manages to improve in that regard, he’s going to have a difficult time getting anything more than brief looks around the league. The Tigers may believe they’ve exhausted their ability to help him.
The Detroit Tigers had a rough time getting their bullpen in order in 2025. Improving their relief corps has got to be one of their priorities this offseason. So far, they’ve claimed both Darnell and RHP Jack Little off waivers from the Pirates. Neither is particularly notable, and it’s not as though the Pirates bullpen has been some juggernaut over the past year that is just overflowing with talent. Along with RHP Tanner Rainey, that’s three former Pirates relievers the Tigers have claimed, although neither Darnell nor Little actually pitched for the Pirates. They were just claimed briefly and then waived again. It’s possible, if not likely, that the same will be true of their tenure with the Tigers.
The offseason is long, and there will be plenty of chances to claim or sign relief projects by the time Opening Day arrives. By the time we get to Opening Day, it’s more likely that Rainey, Little, and Darnell will be pitching elsewhere as it is that they’ll probably a significant answer for the Tigers’ bullpen.