Royals Sign Lee’s Summit Native Alex Lange to One-Year Contract.
The Royals are bringing a local arm back home, signing Lee’s Summit West product Alex Lange to a one-year contract as they continue reworking their bullpen for 2026.
Lange, 30, spent most of last season sidelined by a right lat strain and made only one appearance for the Detroit Tigers.
He finished the year in Triple-A Toledo, where he posted a 4.62 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 25⅓ innings across rehab and minor league outings.
Before the injury, Lange carved out a reputation as a strikeout-heavy late-inning reliever.
Over five big-league seasons with Detroit, he recorded 222 strikeouts in 196 appearances and averaged 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, a rate that ranks 11th among American League pitchers with at least 175 appearances since 2021.
Lange is a former LSU standout and first-round pick of the Chicago Cubs.
