Germán was acquired by the Detroit Tigers on July 5, 2002, in a three-team trade between the Tigers, Oakland Athletics, and New York Yankees. Germán, first baseman Carlos Peña, and pitcher Jeremy Bonderman were traded by Oakland to Detroit in exchange for pitcher Jeff Weaver, whom Oakland then traded to New York for pitcher Ted Lilly, outfielder John-Ford Griffin, and minor league pitcher Jason Arnold. Germán never played for Oakland, though he did spend 1997–2002 in their rookie league, Single-A, and Double-A minor league affiliates before being traded.\n', '

During his rookie season (2003), he was known for his questionable ability to get batters out and as a result was generally unpopular with Detroit Tigers fans. Accordingly, he was subject to large amounts of criticism from the long-suffering Tigers fans, who at the time had not seen their team finish with a winning record since 1993.\n', '

Germán\'s inconsistency on the mound was in contrast to the Tigers\' two primary starters at the time, Bonderman and lefty Mike Maroth, who were regarded to possess Major League talent, but frequently suffered from insufficient run support on a team in the midst of having the worst season in American League history — that year, the Tigers set a new record for total losses (119), eclipsing the previous record (117) held by the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics. After spending much of the 2004 season on the Tigers\' Triple-A minor league team, the Toledo Mud Hens, his form on the mound improved greatly, and he made the Tigers\' 2005 opening day roster.\n', '

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