A few weeks before the year ends the hot stove in the German Baseball-Bundesliga got some new material out of Bonn, Solingen and Regensburg.
Bonn: The Capitals finally announced this week that they have signed the American veterans Alex Baham and Jesse Lacasse for the 2010 season. It was an open secret since November that the two will eventually sign. Baham last played in Germany in 2003, Lacasse in 2005. Bonn with new head coach Mirko Heid hopes they have something left to lead the young team back into the playoffs. Additionally highly coveted starting pitcher Tim Henkenjohann is going to stay for at least another year.
Solingen: The reigning northern champion Alligators finally acknowledged that their number one starter Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez will not come back for 2010. Again this is no news, as it is known in European Baseball that the 35-year-old left-hander has received offers from Italian Baseball League clubs. Solingen brought back pitchers Andre Hughes and Nils Hartkopf to fill the hole in the rotation. Shortstop Chris Beck is still undecided about returning for a third season in Germany.
Regensburg: The Buchbinder Legionaere created quite a few discussions this week thanks to their press release from Monday in which they announced that six players will leave the club, including fan favorites Michael Weigl and Alex Lauterbach. A local TV station added two more names to the list of potential new players. According to the report Regensburg also is interested to bring in Dortmund’s Rene Herlitzius and Saarlouis’ John Patrick Carlson.