Shortly before the start of the new season the reigning German Baseball-Bundesliga champion Heidenheim Heidekoepfe has added 25-year-old Julius Spann. The Mainz native played for the Mainz Athletics until the middle of last season and then went to the United States to pursue a professional baseball career on the independent league circuit. This spring he reinforced the German national team during their training camp ahead of the World Baseball Classic Qualifier, but wasn’t on the actual roster.