Tigers News: Detroit re-signs two DFA'd pitchers, Javy Báez Winter League dominance

The Tigers let go of seven pitchers in the span of just a few days in mid-to-late-November, when everyone had to do their annual post-postseason roster cleanups. A few of those former Tigers pitchers have found new homes — Alex Lange went to the Royals and Jason Foley went to the Giants — but a few have come back to the organization.

Dugan Darnell and Tyler Mattison are still homeless for the time being, but Tanner Rainey, who signed a minor league deal with Detroit in July, was non-tendered on Nov. 18 and re-signed to a minor league deal just a few days later. Per the Tigers' transactions log, Sean Guenther and Jack Little have also been re-signed to MiLB deals.

Guenther was a huge part of the Tigers' miraculous August/September in 2024 and was used every which way to fit in to AJ Hinch's pitching chaos scheme — he pitched as little as 2/3 innings and as many as two anywhere from the third to the end of the game — but he dropped off in 2025, and his 5.23 ERA by late May got him sent down to the minors. He wasn't recalled again.

Little was a waiver claim from the Pirates on Nov. 6. His major league experience only spans three innings, all with the Dodgers earlier this past season, and he gave up two runs.

Tigers News: Sean Guenther and Jack Little re-signed to minor league deals, Javy Báez offseason work

Every so often, a clip of Javy Báez hitting as a lefty goes viral. He does it very rarely, mostly in spring training, but also few times in the majors (he even has a major league double as a lefty). Tigers fans know that he's capable of hitting nukes from the left side ... as long as they're coming at him pretty slowly.

Báez is in Puerto Rico this offseason, playing Winter League ball with the Cangrejeros de Santurce. They put on a softball Home Run Derby, which featured Báez hitting bombs from both sides of the plate.

This is all a bit of fun, and it doesn't mean the Tigers have their next great switch-hitter on their hands, but it is reassuring to see Báez still in full baseball mode.

After an absolutely unbelievable turnaround at the plate earlier in the 2025 season, he cooled off in the second half (along with everyone else in the Tigers' lineup) and has said he's still hungry to get back to his old self.

Will he ever be fully worth the $140 million the Tigers are paying him? No. But if he can still give the team some magical moments like that walk-off three-run homer against the Red Sox, then he'll keep winning fans over little by little.