Tigers pick up newly-minted World Series champion off of waivers from Pirates

The Tigers had a busy Thursday ahead of the deadline to make decisions on contract options and extending qualifying offers. They declined options on Randy Dobnak, Paul Sewald, and José Urquidy to clear up around $15 million in payroll for 2026, and they offered the $22.025 million QO to Gleyber Torres, who is expected to make somewhere around $45-$55 million over three years in free agency.

They reactivated all six of their players on the 60-day IL (all pitchers) and claimed pitcher Jack Little off of waivers from the Pirates to fill up the 40-man roster.

Little, who pitched all of three innings for the Dodgers (who drafted him in the fifth round in 2019) this season, is technically a World Series champion, even if he was unceremoniously DFA'd in August. He was picked up two days later by the Pirates, and did not pitch in the majors again this season.

He was DFA'd by the Pirates on Thursday as part of Pittsburgh's own roster-cleanup effort, and the Tigers were quick to snatch him up.

Tigers claim (technical) World Series champion Jack Little after being DFA'ed by Pirates

There's not a lot to be excited about here when you look at Little's minor league stats. He posted a 3.27 ERA over 22 innings in 2019 (the year he was drafted), and didn't pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season. When he came back to High-A in 2021, he was demoted to the bullpen and posted a 6.75 ERA, underwent Tommy John and missed all of 2022, then put up a 7.71 ERA in Double-A in 2023.

His numbers in 2024 and 2025 have hovered around the 4.00 ERA mark, but he did show a little more promise in Triple-A Indianapolis, with a 2.79 ERA in 19 1/3 innings. His three innings in the majors were pitched over two separate stints — first he gave up two runs in two innings to the Padres in June, then threw a scoreless inning against the Astros in July.

It feels safe enough to assume that the Tigers don't have the next elite bullpen arm on their hands, but the Tigers have enjoyed challenging themselves with a reclamation project or two over the past couple of years (usually to the chagrin of fans).

And, who knows? They made Rafael Montero into a generally serviceable middle-inning arm, so maybe they'll surprise us with Little.