The new year couldn’t start better for Tom Apfelbaum: The 17-year-old baseball player from Cologne has signed a contract with the American professional club, the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the Los Angeles Dodgers, the young athlete from the Cologne Cardinals is joining the currently most successful team in North American professional baseball. After 2024, the Dodgers were able to win the MLB World Series in 2025 and are currently considered the measure of all things in baseball. Tom Apfelbaum will initially begin his professional career in the Dominican Summer League and from there gradually promote himself to higher teams. “Tom checks all the boxes for us that we need to assert ourselves as a pitcher in the Major League,” Franco Frias (photo: right), international crosschecker for the LA Dodgers, is convinced.
By signing today’s contract signing in Cologne, Tom Apfelbaum is sealing his next big milestone on the path to becoming a professional baseball player. As a native of the Cologne Cardinals, he began his baseball career at the age of three. Since then he has played exclusively for the “Cards” and has gone through all the junior stages there. His talent and continuous development led to early appearances in the Baseball Bundesliga, appointments to the North Rhine-Westphalia state team and to the German national team. A particular highlight was taking part in the U18 World Cup in 2026 and winning the German championship with the U18 last year. These successes did not go unnoticed internationally – so now the next big step follows. “It’s great for us to have discovered a player like Tom. With his talent and his requirements, we think he can do anything,” said the Dodgers’ European scout Nestor Perez (photo: left), who first became aware of Tom when he was only 12 years old.
Despite his remarkable sporting career and current attention, the 196 cm tall left-hander remains modest. “There is still a long way to go, but I will give everything to achieve my goal. I would like to thank the Cardinals and all the coaches who have accompanied me on my journey so far and made this possible for me,” said the 17-year-old. The move to professional baseball is not only a unique opportunity for Tom Apfelbaum, but also a strong sign of the Cologne Cardinals’ excellent youth work. For Tom Apfelbaum it now means living the dream of a baseball player and doing everything he can to make it to Major League Baseball.
Text and image: www.colognecardinals.de
