The Canadian utility man Chris FALLS, who also has a British passport, signed a contract with the Mannheim Tornados. He played for the Tuebingen Hawks in 2007. They finished in last place of the southern conference of the Baseball-Bundesliga and were relegated into the second division. He hit .333 with two homeruns, five doubles, 17 runs scored and ten RBI in 28 games. He started 19 times at short, ten at catcher, eight at third and four at second base. He will join the club after the Olympic qualifier in March, in which he is a part of the British team. FALLS will also be a coach with the Tornados.
Mannheim is going to miss one their best pitchers next year. Jan RUESSEL has to go to India for six months due to professional reasons. He was the most important German pitcher for the squad. He started eleven games with a 5-3 record and an ERA of 4.03. There is a possibility that he may help them in the final stages of the season.
