Tigers Reunite with Intriguing Free Agent Reliever to Bolster Bullpen Depth

The Detroit Tigers have added to their bullpen depth with a familiar face.

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The Detroit Tigers entered the offseason ready to rebuild their pitching staff, expected to make major moves both in the starting rotation and the bullpen.

While the rotation has not exactly seen top of the market splashes, the bullpen certainly has by signing Kyle Finnegan and Kenley Jansen to anchor the back end of the group of relievers. Often though, championship units are built on a combination of highly paid options as well as value minor league signings who end of contributing heavily late in games.

The Tigers had their first high profile example of this over the weekend when they landed veteran right-hander Scott Effross on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, and on Tuesday, they made another one with a familiar face.

As reported by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Detroit has brought back Michigan native Dugan Darnell on a one-year minor league contract. Though the deal includes an invitation to MLB spring training, he will not be pitching after September surgery to repair a labrum tear in his left hip.

Tigers Bringing In Dugan Darnell is His Second Stint with Team

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Detroit brought Darnell into the team shortly after the season ended back in November, claiming him off waivers a week after he was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He wound up being designated by the Tigers as well a week later and eventually non-tendered to return to free agency.

Darnell -- an alum of both Northville High School and Adrian College -- has a solid resume in the minor leagues including some impressive numbers for the Colorado Rockies at the MLB level in what was a small sample size.

Across nine appearances and 11.2 innings pitched, the 28-year-old had a 3.86 ERA, though he did have more walks than strikeouts in that period. Across 200 minor league appearances, he has a 3.74 ERA and 1.281 WHIP with an impressive 11.7 K/9, proving he can cause swing and miss.

While on paper he seems like someone worth taking a chance on, the fact that even in a best case he has a long recovery ahead makes it a bit head scratching.

Darnell Will Not Be Able to Contribute to Tigers Right Away

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Because of surgery in September, Darnell's most optimistic timeline has him recovering for eight months, which would be until May. Given that he will clearly not be able to prove his value in spring training, it will certainly be a stint with Triple-A Toledo at first for the right-hander.

If he can put up the kind of numbers he did for Albuquerque in 2025 -- 3.19 ERA and 1.137 WHIP with 63 strikeouts in 53.2 innings pitched -- he may be able to pitch his way into the big leagues and Detroit's bullpen.

Clearly, he still has a long road ahead, but the Tigers seem to see something in Darnell and think he could contribute to them this year. If they're right, they could be getting some great reliever reinforcements a couple months into the season.