By MATT PIKE
The Kansas City Royals added to their bullpen depth, signing a reliever to help bolster the back end of the bullpen who has ties to the Kansas City area.
The Royals signed former Detroit Tigers closing pitcher Alex Lange to a one year deal on Thursday to a deal worth $900,000 in 2026 with $100,000 in performance bonuses, a source told MLB.com. Lange will still be arbitration-eligible after the 2026 season and is under club control through 2028.
On the injured list for most of the 2025 season because of right lat surgery, Lange made just one appearance for the Tigers before he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo in August. In 24 Triple-A appearances, Lange posted a 4.63 ERA. He was designated for assignment by the Tigers on November 12th.
Lange though is not that far removed from being a key piece of Detroit's bullpen. He notched 26 saves for the Tigers in 2023, with 32 save opportunities, and posted a 3.68 ERA across 66 innings that year, which included a 27.4% strikeout rate. Between 2022-23, he appeared in 138 games and posted a 3.55 ERA. His strikeout rate plummeted in 2024, though, and he was optioned to Triple-A before the significant lat injury ended his season.
Lange went to Lee’s Summit West High School in Lee’s Summit, Mo., just outside of Kansas City. He went to Louisiana State University and was a first-round pick by the Cubs in the 2017 Draft. If Lange is healthy again and his stuff still plays like it did in ‘23, the Royals are getting a bounce-back candidate who could add depth to their bullpen.
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