Tigers Make Intriguing Waiver Claim Amid Decisions to Decline Contract Options
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The Detroit Tigers have a very difficult offseason to navigate ahead of them.
Another season has gone by where they were able to remain competitive and make a deep postseason run, but at the same time, there is still a tangible gap between them and a World Series appearance.
This winter, they will have to make decisions to put them in a position to not only remain competitive, but also improve to the point where they can make that last leap.
Early in the offseason, they had plenty of choices to make, including team or mutual options first and foremost.
On Thursday, they ended up clearing their end of the options, declining three different players for 2026. Those players were Randy Dobnak, Paul Sewald and Jose Urquidy, with Sewald being a mutual option and the other two being club options.
With those out of the way, they also made a waiver claim from a National League squad to improve their bullpen depth heading into the 2026 season. While not a player who has had immense Major League experience, he has proven to be quite impressive in his time down in the farm system.
Who Did the Tigers Choose to Claim Off Waivers During Their Option Decisions?
The waiver claim made by Detroit on Wednesday was to acquire reliever Jack Little from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, Little made his MLB debut in 2025 with them by making two appearances with three innings of work, before being designated for assignment in August. The Pirates decided to pick him up, and he played in Triple-A for the remainder of the season.
The Tigers today claimed RHP Jack Little off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) November 6, 2025
Additionally, the Tigers have declined the following 2026 contract options: RHP Randy Dobnak (club), RHP Paul Sewald (mutual) and RHP Jose Urquidy (club).
Finally, the Tigers activated the…
In that span of time, he made 14 appearances, and in 19.1 innings had a 2.79 ERA, 1.034 WHIP, 14 strikeouts, three walks, one home run allowed and two games finished.
His Major League work with the Dodgers led to a 6.00 ERA, but on an extremely small sample size, so the Tigers could see something in him to work with as a bullpen arm in 2026.
Detroit does desperately need some bullpen help heading into next year, as they were very streaky this past season, getting pitching from that group.
While Little may not exactly be a bullpen staple in 2026, he should be someone who can earn himself a good spot and work in specific scenarios to connect the bullpen to the starting pitchers, which is a positive pickup this early in the offseason.
Jeremy Trottier started his writing journey with WBLZ Media, and has worked through multiple publications with 247Sports, USA Today, Fansided, SBNation and others. He is an avid fan of motorsports and most sports in general, and has completed a degree in sports management to further understand the sports industry. During his time with sports media, he has been credentialed for coverage of Boston College sports, and can often be found attending their football and basketball games as well as expected coverage of their men’s soccer team in the near future. Sports are a large part of his life and career, as he looks to pursue a full time role within the industry someday.