KANSAS CITY – The Royals signed right-hander Alex Lange to a one-year deal on Thursday night time, bringing within the reliever with Kansas Metropolis ties so as to add to their bullpen. Lange’s deal is value $900,000 in 2026 with $100,000 in efficiency bonuses, a supply informed MLB.com.
Lange, 30, will nonetheless be arbitration-eligible after the 2026 season and is beneath membership management by means of 2028. He was designated for task by the Tigers on Nov. 12, going unclaimed on waivers and electing free company.
On the injured listing for a lot of the 2025 season due to proper lat surgical procedure, Lange made only one look for the Tigers earlier than he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo in August. In 24 Triple-A appearances, Lange posted a 4.63 ERA.
Lange just isn’t that far faraway from being a key piece of Detroit’s bullpen. He notched 26 saves for the Tigers in ‘23 — with 32 save alternatives — and posted a 3.68 ERA throughout 66 innings that 12 months, which included a 27.4% strikeout charge. Between 2022-23, he appeared in 138 video games and posted a 3.55 ERA. Lange’s stuff — together with a sinker and knuckle curveball — actually performs within the ‘pen when he’s wholesome, producing a number of whiffs and weak contact, though he can get a bit wild at instances with management.
His strikeout charge plummeted in 2024, although, and he was optioned to Triple-A earlier than the numerous lat damage ended his season.
Lange went to Lee’s Summit West Excessive Faculty in Lee’s Summit, Mo., simply outdoors of Kansas Metropolis. He went to Louisiana State College and was a first-round choose by the Cubs within the 2017 Draft.
If Lange is wholesome once more and his stuff nonetheless performs prefer it did in ‘23, the Royals are getting a bounce-back candidate who may add depth to their ‘pen. Plus, an affordable take care of a participant who has years of management is a low-risk, high-reward type of gamble.
