The Tigers agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Dugan Darnell, as first mirrored on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press studies that Darnell will obtain a non-roster invite to MLB camp. He’d make just a little greater than the $780K league minimal if he cracks the large league roster.
Though Darnell shall be with the membership in camp, he’s not going to see any recreation motion. The 28-year-old underwent surgical procedure to restore a labrum tear in his left hip on the finish of September. That got here with an eight-month restoration timetable that’ll sideline him into Might. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Toledo at that time and look to pitch his approach onto the MLB roster.
Darnell is a local of Northville, Michigan, who performed collegiately within the state at Division III Adrian Faculty. He went undrafted and pitched within the unbiased ranks earlier than getting knowledgeable look with the Rockies. Darnell pitched to a 3.74 earned run common throughout 200 minor league appearances within the Colorado group. That included 53 2/3 frames of three.19 ERA ball in a really troublesome atmosphere at Triple-A Albuquerque final season. Darnell earned his first MLB name in consequence, permitting 5 runs over 11 2/3 innings till struggling the harm.
The righty has a three-pitch combine led by a 93-94 MPH fastball. He makes use of a splitter as his prime secondary providing in opposition to left-handed hitters whereas relying extra evenly on the break up and a slider in opposition to righties. Darnell didn’t present sufficient in his restricted MLB look to carry an offseason 40-man spot with Colorado. He bounced to Pittsburgh and Detroit on waiver claims. The Tigers non-tendered him shortly after however succeeded in bringing him again in a non-roster capability. They did the identical with non-tendered receivers Jack Little, Tyler Mattison, Tanner Rainey and Sean Guenther.
In the meantime, Petzold reported yesterday that Detroit reached minor league offers with every of Dylan File, Woo-suk Go and Wandisson Charles. None of that trio obtained an invitation to Spring Coaching, nonetheless. That signifies they’re seen purely as organizational depth arms. All three of these pitchers have had stints on a workforce’s 40-man roster prior to now, however none has gotten to the MLB degree.
File is coming off a 4.70 ERA between the highest two minor league ranges within the Seattle farm system. He’s a starter who owns a 4.33 ERA over seven seasons within the minors. Go was a better in his native South Korea. He signed a two-year, $4.5MM contract with the Padres over the 2023-24 offseason. Go failed to interrupt camp and was rapidly traded to the Marlins as a wage offset within the Luis Arraez deal. He has kicked across the higher minors over the previous two years, together with 20 appearances within the Detroit system a 12 months in the past. Charles is a 29-year-old reliever with a 98 MPH fastball who has by no means been capable of finding the strike zone. He has pitched within the A’s and Baltimore techniques and spent the 2025 marketing campaign in Mexico.
