Finally getting a night to catch up on Atlantic League/Revolution news, I used Tuesday to chat with former Revs’ players Keoni De Renne and Vince Harrison on their plans for 2013. I also took the time to compile several newsworthy items and tidbits (below) related to the Revs/Atlantic League that have come out in the last couple days.

—I chatted with former Revs’ players Keoni De Renne and Vince Harrison on Tuesday night about their plans for the 2013 season after both coached in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor league system last year. For the first in his career, De Renne will be assuming a managerial role in 2013. The Hawaii native is set to manage one of the Pirates’ two farm teams in summer league in the Dominican Republic. Harrison cut ties with the Pirates following last season. He is living in Cincinnati and is working on starting up an indoor baseball/softball facility with his younger brother, Josh, who will likely be the starting third baseman for the Pirates big league club in 2013.

—Tickets on sale: The Revs announced Tuesday that individual game tickets for the 2013 season will go on sale Feb. 9. Tickets will be able to be purchased online at www.yorkrevolution.com and in-person at the ticket office at Sovereign Bank Stadium. Full-season tickets and partial season tickets are currently on sale.

—Open tryout: York will host its annual open tryout for the 2013 season April 5 at Sovereign Bank Stadium. The cost to attend the tryout is $40. Players must be at least 18 years of age to tryout. For more information, visit the Revs’ website or contact baseball operations manager Andrew Ball at aball@yorkrevolution.com.

—Partnership: The Atlantic League announced Tuesday a partnership with national sports marketing and public relations agency Maroon PR. The partnership will include working together on a variety of expansion and branding plans as the league aims to expand from eight to 12 teams in the near future. According to a press release, Maroon PR president and founder John Maroon began his career working in Major League Baseball’s American League office in 1987, then going on to serve as Director of Media Relations for the Cleveland Indians, Director of Public Relations for the Baltimore Orioles, and Vice President of Communications for Ripken Baseball. After founding Maroon PR in April 2006, Ripken Baseball became its first client, and has continued working with the firm since.

—Rangers sign Feierabend: Thanks to Revs’ media guru Paul Braverman for tracking this one down…Former York Revolution starting pitcher Ryan Feierabend has earned a minor league spring training invite with the Texas Rangers, according to a report last week from The Dallas Morning News.

Last season, Feierabend began the season with the Revs before getting picked up by the Cincinnati Reds and assigned to Class AAA Louisville, where he went 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA in seven starts. The left-hander returned to York on July 26. For the season, Feierabend made 18 starts for the Revs, going 9-5 and setting a new club record ERA (2.70) in 113 innings.

Feierabend, an Ohio native, has 25 major league appearances under his belt from 2006 to 2008 with the Seattle Mariners. The Rangers will mark the fourth big league organization Feierabend has spent time in his tenth year as a pro.

 

 

—Ducks announce signings: The Long Island Ducks won last year’s Atlantic League championship. So, it’s only fitting that they’re the first club to announce signings for the 2013 season. Long Island announced Tuesday they are bringing back longtime Ducks’ infielder Ray Navarrete and outfield Joash Brodin. (For those wondering, I’m still not sure yet when I’ll begin publishing the weekly Atlantic League news, transactions post. It will likely begin sometime soon, but I’m thinking of doing it once signings really begin ratcheting up, which should be fairly soon.)

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The Sugar Land Skeeters, Lancaster Barnstormers and Long Island Ducks announced more signings on Feb. 7.

Perhaps the biggest one is the announcement of slugger Jason Botts going to the Skeeters along with outfielder Drew Locke.

Botts started 2011 with the York Revolution, batting .370 and nailing four homers and driving in 13 runs in just 14 games before he was picked up by the New York Mets and assigned to Class AAA Buffalo Bisons.

The Barnstormers signed outfielder Blake Gailen (last year’s American Association batting champion) and starting pitcher Mark Brackman (who owned the Frontier League’s best ERA in 2011).

The Ducks brought back the franchise’s all-time hits leader Ray Navarrete, who will play in a record seventh season for Long Island.

Skeeters:

Except for a year spent playing overseas in Japan in 2009, Botts has played affiliated or big league ball every year since 2005. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound slugger played a collective 93 games for the Texas Rangers from 2005 to 2008, batting .230 with five homers and 28 RBIs.
With Buffalo last season, Botts got off to a hot start before injuries caught up to him and caused him to be on the DL for the majority of the second half of the year. He finished with a .268 batting average, three homers and 19 RBIs in 59 games.

It seems the draw for ballplayers to play in Texas is coming to fruition. Revs manager Andy Etchebarren pointed out the Skeeters advantage during an interview a couple weeks ago, shortly after Sugar Land announced the signing of former Atlantic League co-MVP Josh Pressley.

Pressley, a Texas native, opted to play for Sugar Land because he wanted to stay close to home. So the move makes sense for the 31-year-old Botts, who has spent a majority of his pro career playing in the Lone Star state.

Locke, who turns 29 in less than a month, is a former Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros prospect who has played at the Class AAA level each of the last two seasons. With Class AAA Round Rock (Tex) in 2010, Locke batted .279 with 17 homers and 74 RBIs in 135 games. His numbers dipped a little in 2011, batting .264 with 11 homers and 58 RBIs in 125 games with Class AAA Oklahoma City.

Locke, a Massachussetts native, has a career .297 batting average in seven minor league seasons. This will mark his first time playing independent ball.
Sugar Land now has three players under contract for 2012 (Botts, Locke, Pressley).

Barnstormers:

Gailen, 26, batted .406 in 69 games in 2011 for the Lincoln Saltdogs, of the independent American Association, before being picked up by the Los Angeles Angels and assigned to Class AA Arkansas.

Gailen struggled with Arkansas, though, batting just .208 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 29 games.

After playing in college for UNLV until 2007, Gailen had played entirely in independent ball before the Angels signed him. He owns a career .352 batting average in a combined 328 games with four different independent clubs over five seasons.

Brackman, 26, is coming off back-to-back solid seasons with the Gateway Grizzlies, of the independent Frontier League. Brackman went 13-4 with a 3.16 ERA in 2010 and accumulated a 2.15 ERA and 7-5 record in 15 starts in 2011.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander has thrown eight complete games over the past two seasons.
With the addition of Gailen and Brackman, the Barnstormers now have four players under contract for 2012, joining relief pitcher Ching-Lung Lo and outfielder Adam Godwin.

Ducks:

Navarrete will begin 2012 as the Ducks’ all-time franchise leader in hits (719, ), home runs (112), RBI (420), runs scored (485), and doubles (174), and he remains just three games shy of tying Justin Davies for the most games played in franchise history (637).

He has been selected to play in the Atlantic League All-Star Game a team-record four times and was named the 2009 Atlantic League MVP.

The 33-year-old clubbed a team-high 27 home runs in 2011 (second in the Atlantic League), totaled 79 RBI (sixth), and scored 86 runs (third). Navarrete also finished among the top five in games played (122 – second) and at-bats (492 – second) despite an unimpressive .242 batting average (123-for-524).

Navarrete is a career .282 hitter over 1,320 professional games and has reached as high as Class AAA with the New York Mets organization in 2006. The New Jersey native was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2000.

Navarrete is the fourth player Long Island has under contract so far for 2012, joining outfielder Kraig Binick and relievers Travis Minix and Jeremy Hill.

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