Franklyn German

German has tons of potential and a great fastball, but has terrible control problems and doesn't strike out nearly as many batters as he should. When they traded for him, the Tigers expected German to develop into an elite closer, but now are just hoping he can learn to throw the ball over the plate. Unless he can solve his control problems, German will likely spend another year alternating between Triple-A Toledo and the majors.

German has a dynamite arm and was tabbed the closer of the near future, but his control was awful and he was sent to the minors to work on that control. He has a lot of promise, but is probably somebody you should avoid until he shows he can regain his command.

German came over from the A's in the Jeff Weaver deal and had a great year at Triple-A with 13 saves, a 1.59 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. German then worked seven scoreless innings in a September call-up with the Tigers, giving everyone in the organization goose bumps in the process. Just 23, German is considered the Detroit closer of the future -- and the future very well might come Opening Day 2003. He's going to be a trendy sleeper pick this spring - so trendy that he might actually be overrated in some leagues.