DETROIT — The experimenting with Jose Valverde at the major league level is over, as far as the Detroit Tigers are concerned.

Whether or not the experiment of trying to fix his issues carries on elsewhere is up to the 35-year-old reliever.

Friday, the Tigers designated Valverde for assignment, meaning they have 10 days to assign him to the minors, place him on waivers, or work out a trade.

General manager Dave Dombrowski said he’d given Valverde the option of accepting an assignment to Triple-A Toledo to attempt to straighten things out, but had not yet gotten an answer from his former closer.

“He was open-minded to it. He did not say no to it. But he needed some time to think about it,” said Dombrowski, who met with other members of the organization, before he, manager Jim Leyland, pitching coach Jeff Jones and assistant GM Al Avila gave Valverde the news. “He seemed understanding. I don’t think anybody — I think he knows he’s been struggling. And how do you get that back?

“He seemed understanding of it. Quiet. Noncommittal.

“But I don’t think he — he’s also in a spot where he didn’t say, ‘Gee, I think you’re wrong. And I need to run out of here.’ I think he was taking it in and digesting it.”

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