The Tigers announced that they have claimed right-hander Dugan Darnell off waivers from the Pirates. The Bucs designated him for assignment last week. To open a roster spot for Darnell, the Tigers designated righty Alex Lange for assignment.
Lange, 30, is not too far removed from being Detroit’s closer. He notched 26 saves for the club in 2023. He pitched 66 innings that year, allowing 3.68 earned runs per nine. He struck out 27.4% of batters faced and got grounders on 50.6% of balls in play, though his massive 15.6% walk rate was worrisome.
The bottom fell out from there. His 2024 started out poorly. Through 18 2/3 innings, he had a 4.34 ERA. That wasn’t an atrocious jump but there were worse signs under the hood. His grounder rate fell to 45.8% and his strikeout rate to 23.3%. His walk rate, which was already awful, climbed to 18.9%. The Tigers optioned him to the minors in May of that year. A few weeks later, he suffered an injury and required lat surgery. He missed the final few months of the season and began 2025 on the 60-day injured list. He wasn’t reinstated from the IL until August.
A few days after coming off the IL, he was optioned to the minors and spent the rest of the year there. That burned his third option, meaning he will be out of options going forward. He’s also eligible for arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $900K salary next year. He was likely going to be non-tendered next week but the Tigers have instead bumped him off the roster today to make this claim.
Lange will be in DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Tigers could take five days to explore trade interest. They probably won’t find much, given that Lange has been injured for most of the past two years. His work in Triple-A this year resembled his past self, not in a great way. He logged 23 1/3 Triple-A innings in 2025 with a 4.63 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 54.7% ground ball rate but a 14.3% walk rate.
If he were to clear waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency. He doesn’t cost much and still has three years of club control, so perhaps some rebuilding club could take a shot on him and hope for a bounceback.
Darnell, 28, still has a limited track record. He made nine appearances with the Rockies in 2025, logging 11 2/3 innings. In September, he underwent surgery to address a torn left hip labrum. The timeline given at that time was eight months. The Pirates claimed him off waivers in October but have now lost him to the Tigers.
Since the major league track record is so shallow, the Bucs and Tigers were presumably more interested in his work on the farm. He has 255 1/3 minor league innings under his belt with a 3.74 ERA. That includes 53 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, with a 3.19 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate. He can give the Tigers some extra bullpen depth whenever he has recovered from his hip surgery.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Mets
Could be a good minor league pickup for someone if Lange can get back on track after a severe injury (torn lat tendon) and long recovery from surgery. But really only as a non-40 man roster pickup.
I like the move by the Tigers, they couldn’t have ever trusted Lange on the mound in the majors again. This is likely the beginning of the end of his career. I doubt he’s going to work out anywhere.