The Heidenheim Heidekoepfe have signed the 30-year-old catcher/corner infielder Michael Franke for the upcoming season in the German Baseball-Bundesliga. He is coming from the Untouchables Paderborn, which surprisingly didn’t renew his contract for 2012 at the end of last year. The former Minor Leaguer with the Milwaukee Brewers organization is also going to work as a youth coach in Heidenheim. In 2011 Franke batted .346/.439/.444 with 21 runs and 19 RBI in 23 games. In October he played for Germany in the IBAF Baseball World Cup in Panama. He is supposed to take over at third base in Heidenheim, but also can back up Simon Guehring behind the plate or get used at first.
Photo: Sport Total