Before we get to Thursday’s game, feel free to check out a feature on reliever Josh Judy, who got picked up by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and assigned to Class AA Arkansas.

The Revs beat the Riversharks, 7-4, on Thursday to avoid the series sweep and get back to a .500 record at 7-7. They’ll next welcome the defending Atlantic League champion Long Island Ducks (3-10) on Friday in the first of a three-game series.

York had five players with multiple hits in Thursday’s victory, led by Johan Limonta, who went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Revs’ short stop Andy Gonzalez (2-for-4, run scored, RBI) also had the go-ahead RBI single in a three-run seventh inning that broke a 4-4 tie. Click here to read the game story.

York now has four players batting above .300, one of them being catcher Salvador Paniagua.

That’s quite surprising considering Paniagua, 29, batted a collective .242 in 97 games for York the last two years. But Paniagua split catching duties in 2011 with Octavio Martinez and in 2012 with Travis Scott. This season marks his first as the everyday catcher to start a season since 2010, something he says has helped.

“Sometimes when you’re not playing everyday you have to be ready. It makes it more easy for you if you play everyday because if you go 1-for-4 or 1-for-5 today you know you can play the next day and make adjustments,” Paniagua said. “That’s what I’ve been working on.

A Dominican Republic, Paniagua started the year going 4-for-22 at the plate (.182 average). Since then, the former New York Mets’ and Boston Red Sox prospect has gone 9-for-17 in the last four games to pump his average up to .333, which is tied with third baseman Andy Marte for second-best on the team. Revs’ skipper Mark Mason has noticed a more patient approach at the plate from Paniagua.

“He’s staying more consistent in really trying to hit the other way,” Mason said. “He’s a natural pull hitter. If they throw him inside he can handle it. His problem is waiting on the off-speed away. He’s done a really good job of sitting back and then when they (pitchers) throw him inside he reacts. And when they throw away he’s been hitting it that way. He’s been patient at the plate and he’s getting good results.”

A former prospect of the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox, Paniagua has shown flashes of productivity at the plate throughout his 10-year pro career. At Class High A Lancaster (Red Sox) in 2007, he batted .286 with 11 homers and 42 RBIs in 46 games.

Later playing in the independent United League in 2010, he batted above .300 in 86 combined games split between Laredo and Rio Grande Valley. After being released by York mid-way through last season, Paniagua went on to hit .333 in 20 games with San Rafael in the independent North American League.

That’s exactly why San Angelo (North American League) skipper Doc Edwards wanted to bring Paniagua on board in 2013. (If you’re thinking Doc Edwards sounds familiar it’s probably because he played in the majors from 1962 to 1970 with the Cleveland Indians,  Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies or because he managed the Cleveland Indians for three season from 1987 to 1989, going 173-207).

“At the end of 2011 he basically was our playoff and championship game catcher,” Mason said. “He handled the bullpen. There was a big difference in our ERA when he was behind the plate. Last year he got jammed up with Travis (Scott) and him. That was last year.

“When I signed him I had (catcher Salomon) Manriquez here. Manriquez had already signed before I signed Salvador (Paniagua). I actually called Doc to see if Doc would trade him (Paniagua). Doc just basically released him so there wasn’t a trade. He told me ‘Mace, promise me if you’re not going to keep him around, just send him back here.’”

Pitching: Making his third start of the season for York, left-hander Chris Cody allowed four runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in 5.2 innings pitched. Mason said Cody left some of his pitches up, which might have accounted for him getting just two ground-ball outs, which is uncharacteristic.

“Everything felt good,” Cody said. “I think most of their hits, not every single one, but most were off fastballs. I was just a little elevated with my fastball. It’s probably the first time in my career I didn’t get a ground-ball out.”

Cody threw 62 of 91 pitches for strikes and first-pitch strikes to 18 of 28 batters faced. He now has a 3.05 ERA through three starts (six earned runs allowed in 17.2 innings).

Relievers Joe Torres, Stephen Penney (1-1), Rommie Lewis and Juan Rincon combined for 3 Ð scoreless innings. Rincon picked up his second save.

Notes: Infielder Eric Patterson did not play Thursday. He left Wednesday night’s game after pulling up lame when running down the line in the bottom of the ninth inning…All but two of York’s games this season have been decided by three runs or less…York’s 14 hits were one short of a season-high…Brian Burgay (2-for-4) scored twice to increase his league lead in runs to 13, while drawing his league-leading 15th walk.

Rally plantain: A gentleman named Angel Clander has shown up York’s last two home games and got the crowd involved in various chants while holding a “rally plantain” as a good luck charm. Clander apparently owns a restaurant somewhere in York. Hopefully he continues to show up at games the rest of the season when more fans than the 2,000-plus that were at Thursday’s game. Click here to check out video of Clander cheering. Click here to read more about the rally plantain, which apparently became popular in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

Roster: York’s active roster is now at 26 players with the departure of Judy on Thursday. Atlantic League clubs can carry a maximum of 27 players through the end of May, when rosters have to be paired down to 25 players. Mason said he doesn’t expect to make any roster moves in the coming days.

“We’re at 26 (active players) and we’re gonna hang there a little bit,” he said. “Obviously with Josh (Judy) getting signed it took one (roster spot) away and that’s usually how things go here. Stuff works itself out. We could have another guy signed here before the homestand is over.”

Next series: Here are the pitching match-ups for the weekend series against Long Island:

Friday, 6:30 p.m.: York RHP Nick Green (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. RHP Nick DeBarr (0-1, 4.36 ERA)

Saturday, 6:30 p.m.: York RHP Matt Fox (0-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. LHP Bill Murphy (0-3, 9.75 ERA)

Sunday, 5 p.m.: York RHP Corey Thurman (1-2, 2.95 ERA) vs. RHP John Brownell (0-2, 5.28 ERA).

Fans can check out a special promotion related to the Kentucky Derby and Saturday’s game that could score you some free tickets. Click here to read more.

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The York Revolution wrapped up the spring training exhibition schedule Tuesday afternoon with a 6-4 loss to visiting Camden at Sovereign Bank Stadium. York went 4-1-1 in spring training competition (the Revs tied Somerset, 1-1, on Monday night under the lights).

After the game, Revs’ manager Mark Mason revealed his plans for the starting rotation and bullpen (more on that later). Tyler Graham (1-for-3), Andres Perez (1-for-4), Jason Repko (1-for-2, walk), Salvador Paniagua (1-for-3, RBI) and Johan Limonta (1-for-3, RBI) each had a hit in Tuesday’s game. Perez hit a solo homer to left-center in the ninth inning.

Right-hander Nick Green got the start for the Revs. He went four innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Here’s what York pitching coach John Halama had to say on Green afterwards:

“I liked exactly what I saw. He gave up ground-ball base hits. He got weak contact. When you get contact there’s nothing he could’ve done differently,” Halama said. “When you start getting frustrated and make a mistake and a ball gets hit into a gap, that’s a different story. But when you’re talking about a jam shot, a seeing-eye base hit, a ball down the line to start the inning and then you mix in some of those other hits.”

Halama said he’s been working with Green, who pitched the last two years with Southern Maryland, on establishing the fastball and the changeup.

“That’s the pitcher he was when he was in Southern Maryland was fastball, changeup,” Halama said. “He told me he needs to pitch inside more to right-handers. The results are there. He’s just got to stick with it. He’s got to be aware and conscious of it. He’ll be very good.”

Right-handers Nick Schumacher, Juan Rincon, Stephen Penney and Julio DePaula each tossed a scoreless inning in relief for York. Right-hander Mike Wuertz allowed two runs on four hits with a strikeout in one inning of relief and lefty Yunior Novoa gave up a run on two hits in one innning of work.

Pitching plans: Mason said Tuesday starters Corey Thurman and Brett Tomko will be followed in the rotation by lefty Chris Cody, Green and lefty Kris Regas. Right-hander Matt Fox will “piggyback” on Regas when Regas starts, Mason said.

Mason said Rincon will be York’s closer “to start the year.”

“He (Rincon) has the most experience of the guys I have,” Mason said. “Here’s the plan going in, he’s throwing the ball better and better every time out. He’s a professional. He knows what he’s doing. There’s a lot of guys who threw the ball well out of the bullpen. (Julio) DePaula is throwing the ball well. Penney is throwing the ball well. Novoa is throwing it well. Wuertz has gotten better. Josh Judy has been really good, too. It could be Rincon, it could be Judy. But for right now it’s Rincon.”

Not including Pedro Liriano, who is still not with the team because of visa issues, York’s roster currently sits at 28 players. It has to be paired down to 27 by Opening Night. Mason said he’ll make a decision on the roster Wednesday.

“There’s just a couple things I gotta check on. Position-player wise we’re going with what we have, 12 guys,” Mason said. “Pitching-wise it’ll probably be 14 guys.”

Opening Night: To get ready for Opening Night, click here to read a full-length feature previewing York’s upcoming season and some key points to watch out for.

Quote of the day: “I would win, even with a bad back.” – From former Revs’ skipper Andy Etchebarren, now retired, chatting in the pressbox Tuesday when jokingly pitched a promotion idea that would have him mud wrestling Lancaster manager Butch Hobson.

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Veteran pitcher Corey Thurman has been named the York Revolution Opening Day starter by manager Mark Mason.

It will mark the fourth straight year Thurman will start the team’s first game of the season, which is scheduled for Thursday night at Sovereign Bank Stadium against the Bridgeport Bluefish.

Mason confirmed the news Saturday evening following York’s 12-2 win over a team of retired Atlantic League alumni at the team’s Fan Fest event.

“Thurm’ deserves it. He’s 27-6 the last two years. (He’s won) two championships here,” Mason said. “Thurm’ deserves Opening Night.”

Mason also said right-hander Brett Tomko is the team’s No. 2 starter. The rest of the rotation is yet to be determined. Left-hander Chris Cody and right-hander Nick Green will definitely be in the rotation, Mason said. Right-hander Nick Schumacher, who was slated to begin the season in the rotation, is being moved to the bullpen because Mason needs a long reliever since righty Pedro Liriano still is not in camp as the team deals with visa issues for the Dominican Republic native.

While Mason is still leaving the door open to beginning the season with six starters, the No. 5 spot in the rotation will likely come down to left-hander Kris Regas and right-hander Matt Fox.

Mason said Green, Thurman and Tomko are the most ready for season when it comes to pitch counts.

“I think Nick Green is about as far (along as Tomko),” he said. “I had him at 74 pitches the other day. I’d say he and Thurm’ are probably the farthest ahead. Thurm’ hasn’t had a chance to pitch in a game yet. He’s threw 85 pitches in a bullpen against hitters standing in yesterday (Friday), they did swing off him a little bit. Thurm’s first start is gonna be the first time he sees live hitters.”

Thurman: Thurman, 34, has a combined 1.54 ERA in his last three Opening Day starts for the Revs, allowing two earned runs over 11.2 innings, striking out six and walking five.

The longest tenured player in York history, Thurman is 52-26 with a 4.18 ERA in his five seasons with the Revs. Last season, the former major leaguer went 14-3 with a 3.82 ERA in 27 starts. His 147.2 innings in 2012 were the most since 2008 (165.1 innings).

First pitch for Thursday night’s opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. It will be preceded by a pre-game ceremony retiring the number of former York manager Andy Etchebarren.

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Day One of the York Revolution spring training came and went in a hurry on Monday. Below is a collection of some news and notes of what happened at practice, conversations with some players and front office personnel and more, including improvements made to Sovereign Bank Stadium that fans of all ages will be able to enjoy, an introduction of the new Revs’ groundskeeper and much more. Make sure to stop back here every day for the next couple weeks if you’re looking for what happened at each day’s practice.

Column: If you haven’t already, feel free to check out my column featured in Monday’s paper. It focuses on Mark Mason and how much he’s looking forward to proving himself in his first year as manager. It also takes a look at what Mason and Revs baseball operations Andrew Ball have to this point to piece together a talented pre-season roster that includes several former big leaguers. Also included in the column is the average age of York’s pre-season roster and where that ranks compared to the rest of the league (I’ll have a more detailed look at this across the league once the season gets started and rosters are in place).

Pictures: Click here to view all the pictures from Monday’s practice taken by veteran York Dispatch photographer Bill Kalina, including a couple pics of new York players Tyler Graham, Wilson Batista and Eric Patterson.

Feature: Click here to read the feature out of Monday’s practice focuses on York’s outfield, in particular Tyler Graham. A Montana native, Graham debuted in the big leagues at the end of last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here’s are some interesting tidbits left out of that feature:

- Graham, 29, grew up Montana: “It’s cold. We don’t have high school baseball in Montana. We have legion ball, it starts in April and ends in August. It’s fun. It’s just like any other place just not affiliated with the high school.”

- Graham’s high school coach is the nephew is college football coach Dennis Erickson, who helped get Graham into Oregon State University: “Dennis Erickson is a good family friend and his nephew was my high school coach in Montana. I had that connection. And then he talked to the (baseball) coaches that came out and watched in Montana for a day for a game and I signed soon after that. So without that connection it would have never happened.” …. ““I got a lot of (looks from) smaller (NCAA) D-I (schools) and D-IIs. Oregon State is by far the biggest offer I got. Even in that area, I never got offered by the D-I schools in that area. That’s why I feel so fortunate to end up where I did.”

- Thoughts of Graham making his big league debut with the Diamondbacks after previously making his way up through the minors in the San Francisco Giants’ farm system: “It was something else. Obviously I would have liked to get called up with the San Francisco Giants. It’s the team I came up with for six years. Getting to be very good friends with the people in that organizaton, the management the coaches the players. I had great relationships with the Giants. It would’ve been a lot more rewarding getting called up with them. But at the same time it wasn’t the experience that I guess I would’ve really hoped for getting called up. I was with a new team in triple-A with the Reno Aces. I didn’t know a lot of the guys and it wasn’t the same feeling it would’ve been with the Giants. But after all it was my dream and it came true. I was ecstatic. Even though it wasn’t with the Giants I was still very grateful for the opportunity.”

- Surgery: While the feature story focuses on Graham’s most recent surgery to his right throwing shoulder, it’s worth noting he had surgery to his left shoulder back in 2003 when he was at Oregon State.

- Graham’s thoughts on deciding to sign with York: “I just started getting calls on most of the teams in the (Atlantic) League. I listened to all of them and see what they had to offer. I had friends who played in this league before. They advised me on what places were good places to play and what weren’t. Everyone said York was a great place to play along with Lancaster and maybe a couple other teams around the league. I heard the spiel from most of the coaches around the league and what they had to offer. York sounded like a good situation and so I decided to come here.” “When I had talked to the coach (Mason) he said I was gonna play center field and lead-off and that’s all I needed to hear. I was good to go from there.”

Practice: Position players went through batting practice while a number of pitchers threw off the bullpen mounds. Starting pitcher Nick Green threw to live hitters. Missing from practice was starting pitcher Brett Tomko and relievers Juan Rincon and Pedro Liriano. Tomko and Rincon are expected to be in camp Tuesday. It’s unclear when Liriano will arrive as the team is dealing with visa issues with the Dominican Republic native.

Tryouts: The Revs didn’t sign anyone from last Friday’s open tryout. Not much more to further report on this, but thought it’s worth noting.

Mason chats on several topics:

- Of the 28 players on York’s pre-season roster, 11 of them are new to the Atlantic League. How concerned is Mason about those players’ first experience in a shortened spring training?: “That’s a concern every year. Anyone who doesn’t go through spring training you’re gonna be concerned about that. Some guys have played winter ball. Maybe they didn’t play winter ball and all February and March they’re throwing bullpens. The guys usually who have gone through spring training are more prepared.”

- Going into the off-season, Mason anticipated having his entire outfield returning but having to replace his entire infield: “Initially putting the roster together I really thought that we would have the same outfield back we had last year. I anticipated having a brand new infield. I knew (third baseman Chris) Nowak wouldn’t be back. (Short stop Joe) Thurston probably wouldn’t be back. (Second baseman Andres) Perez was gonna go to Mexico and I thought Limo’ (first baseman Johan Limonta) would go back to Mexico as well. And then when Scotty (center-fielder Scott Grimes) retired and Havee (left-fielder Brandon Haveman) retired I was like ‘OK. The only position player I have left (returning) is Fio’ (right-fielder Jeff Fiorentino) until I talked to Limonta and he said ‘No. I don’t want to go to Mexico. I want to come back and play in the league.”” — Mason ended having to find replacements for left field, center field, third base and short stop.

- Here’s York’s starting outfield: Left-fielder Jason Repko, center-fielder Tyler Graham, right-field Jeff Fiorentino. Mason said he Limonta, Brian Burgamy and Eric Patterson as possible back-ups in the outfield if needed. Plus, he said Andres Perez could play left field if needed.

- Sales pitch to Graham: “He had contacted some other clubs and when I talked to him on the phone I said ‘Look, this is what I’ll do. You come into camp you’ll be our everyday center-fielder and you’ll hit lead-off. That’s what I can promise you to start the season and after that it’s up to you to hold it.’ As soon as I said that I think we were like two minutes into the conversation and he’s like ‘I’m good, send the contract.’”

- A case like Graham’s is often a good example of what a player wants to hear, according to Mason: “Some guys I think if you tell them how you’re gonna use them and they like the role you’re gonna give ‘em that sways them a lot. And the players that have signed here and the success and the stuff that goes with it, the players like to hear that. (Third baseman) Andy Marte told me ‘You’re the only manager that has ever called me at my house in my pro ball career.’ I think players wanna talk to the manager because that’s the guy that makes the lineup. He’s gonna tell you how he wants to use you. A lot of players will tell you they got a lot of phone calls from around the league and it was ‘On behalf of the manager. I’m calling on behalf of the manager.’ Well, if you ask that guys questions he can’t answer like ‘How are you gonna use me?’ He might be able to offer you the money but the player really wants to know what are you gonna do?

- Mason’s background recruiting as a college coach helps in getting players to come to York: “I have about 23 seaosns in college ball. It’s all about recruiting. When you’re in a position where you’re recruiting and you tell them this is how I’m gonna use you, then that’s how I’m gonna use you. I told the guys this morning ‘I want you to showcase your ability every night. I demand 100 percent. When you’re out on the field, it’s show time go 100 percent and we’ll see what happens. It doesn’t take a lot of talent to give 100 percent effort. I told them I want to have fun while they’re here because a relaxed player is a better player. I’m not holding jobs over people’s heads. I’m not like that.”

Fiorentino packs on the pounds: In the course of working on the Graham feature, I chatted with returning outfielder Jeff Fiorentino, who arrived to camp Monday with some added pounds. There’s been some estimates that he looks 30 pounds heavier (by my estimation he’s added a good, healthy weight to a frame that was rail thin by the end of last season). Here’s what he had to say: “I don’t know what it was (amount of weight he added). I had lost a lot of weight when I was here last year.”….“I’ve lost 30 pounds in a season before.”…. “I trained hard. I still did all the things I needed to do, I just ate everything in sight. Taking protein and doing whatever I can.” … “I have the lengthy figure so even if I got fat it wouldn’t look fat on me.”.,.. “I stayed at my in-laws house, they’re out in the middle of nowhere (in north Florida, Mariana). They had a golf cart, I pulled the golf cart, I pushed the golf cart. I did that for a couple months. Same thing every year I went to a complex, it’s mainly an NFL combine place but during the off-season they do baseball also. 20 guys between the majors and minors. It’s in Fort Lauderdale (Florida). They train us there. They work you. We’ll do squats, ten sets of four. Two sets of box jumps. It’s all stuff that’s scripted out specifically for each person. I just got after it. Current major leaguers and current NFL guys. It’s mostly all local guys. Every now people like (Miguel) Tejada used to go down there and work out guys like Mike Morris, Mike Napoli, Raul Ibanez, Cliff Floyd used to.”

- Fiorentino said he’s staying with former teammate and current Baltimore Orioles’ outfielder Nick Markakis again this season.

- Fiorentino’s wife is expecting the couple’s first child, a boy, near the end of August.

Repko visits Gettysburg: OK. Not really baseball related. But it’s a blog and I have this info so why not throw it in here, right? A resident of Washington state, Repko got into town last Wednesday with his wife and their two children, ages five and two-and-a-half. What better place to take those youngsters than Gettysburg, right?: “My wife, I guess you could say is a history geek. I’m into that, too. I just watched that movie Lincoln. It was really cool for me. I’m not into it as much as my wife is. It was really cool. We did the little Film-O-Rama thing.” … “We did go on the little driving tower, we got out and went up the towers and sat on the canons. It ended up being pretty cool. It was fun.”

 

Update on former Revs catcher: Travis Scott is still a free agent but he’s expected to sign with an Atlantic League club later this week. Scott, 27, batted .226 in 79 games for York last season.

Stat of the day: This one comes from Revolution play-by-play broadcaster Darrell Henry: The most former major leaguers York has had on its roster in one season from start to finish is 17. The Revs’ current pre-season roster has 13 ex-major leaguers.

Ballpark improvements: Check out the previous blog post yet on new upgrades to Sovereign Bank Stadium, including the food selection at games? Click here to read that.

Groundskeeper: For the fourth straight year, the Revs have a new groundskeeper. Zach Holm, 23, is originally from San Diego, California but for some reason opted to attend college at Delaware Valley, where he was a pitcher. He ended up blowing out his arm in college and underwent Tommy John surgery to his right throwing elbow. He has a pretty sick scare as proof. He’s had tons of experience working on a grounds crew, including an internship with the Boston Red Sox, time with the Yankees’ Class AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre club and most recently the Yankees’ Class Low A Staten Island club.

Robinson, Etch’ coming back to York, jersey retirement(s)?: Former York Revolution manager Andy Etchebarren, now retired, will make his first visit back to York next week for the club’s Opening Day on April 18, when the team will retire his jersey.Also scheduled to be in appearance that night is Brooks Robinson, according to Menzer: “We are expecting Brooks (Robinson) to be here Opening Night. At least he’s scheduled to attend. Brooks’ number has always been retired there’s just never been the appropriate recognition inside the ballpark that it’s retired. And the same with Jackie Robinson’s number. So we’ll unveil all of that on Opening Night.”

Bullpen catchers: Former Penn State York men’s baseball player Nick Wallin will be back as the Revs’ bullpen catcher this season. Joining him will be PSY baseball assistant coach Chris Trout.

Quote of the day: From me to Repko, which I regretted as soon as I said it since it’s one of those things where you don’t really think before you say it: “You look a lot smaller than I was expecting. Just from the highlights and everything I’ve seen of you, I guess you just look bigger on camera.” Why did I regret saying this? Well, now every time Repko passes me, he walks with his arms way out to the side and his chest puffed out. I’m sure he won’t let me down on this for the rest of the season. To be fair, let the record show Repko had told me back in March he went from 194 pounds and 10.5 percent body fat down to 182 pounds and seven percent body fat.

Virginia Beach: The Atlantic League announced Monday that Virginia Beach has been given conditional approval to join the Atlantic League. What exactly does conditional approval mean? Well, I chatted with Atlantic League CEO Frank Boulton on Monday (more to come later this week on this conversation) on several topics, including the above question. Here’s what he said: “Basically when you get a conditonal approval from the league, it’s subject to financing and securing funding and once they do that, they can become a member.” While we’re on this subject, he said the Loudoun (Va) Hounds have also been conditionally approved. Compared to Loudon, Virginia Beach sounds like a far-off reality. So I’m not really sure what to make of “conditionally approved” news since neither teams are official members and will only become members once everything is in place. For more information on the Virginia Beach plans, click here.

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Perhaps the biggest name next to Roger Clemens to come to the Atlantic League, slugger Vladimir Guerrero will be bringing his talents to Long Island this season.

Guerrero, 38, has signed with the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, according to a report Thursday night from Foxsports.com reporter Ken Rosenthal.The Ducks’ Twitter account confirmed the news Thursday night.

The Ducks had yet to announce the signing Thursday night and message left on the cell phone of Ducks’ manager Kevin Baez was not returned.

While York Revolution manager Mark Mason is happy about the news, he said the Revs might have just missed out on signing Guerrero after having discussions with him most of this off-season.

“We were basically trying to tell him a better opportunity afforded him here to get back to the big leagues,” Mason said. “As of yesterday the way it was left was that he would think about it and maybe give us an answer early next week and see what went on from there.

“I’m happy that he’s in the league. I think it’s great that he’s in the league. Am I disappointed that he didn’t sign with us? Obviously. He’s a borderline Hall of Famer.”

Guerrero, 38, last played in the big leagues in 2011 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. Mostly a designated hitter, he batted .290 that season for the Orioles, with 13 homers and 63 RBIs in 145 games. Guerrero is a career .318 hitter in 2,147 games in the majors, with 449 homers, 1,496 RBIs, 1,328 runs scored and 2,590 hits.

The Dominican Republic native played in just 12 total games last season split between the Toronto Blue Jays’ Class High A Dunedin and Class AAA Las Vegas clubs. This season, Guerrero was deciding between coming to the Atlantic League or going to the independent Can-Am League to play with the Quebec Capitals.

In a string of tweets from Rosenthal late Thursday night, Guerrero released the following statement on signing with Long Island:

“I loved playing in Canada and really wanted to play for Quebec and old friend Michel Laplante. I grew up with the Montreal Expos and played there for almost 10 years. The fans there are my friends. However, my ultimate goal is to make it back to the majors and reach 500 homers as soon as possible Quebec’s season starts about a month later than Long Island. I own a home on Long Island and am also very comfortable there. I am very grateful and excited for the opportunity.”

Revs’ third-base coach Enohel Polanco, formerly a resident of the Dominican Republic, had been working the phones from his New Jersey home over the off-season.

“Polo talked to him (Guerrero) for awhile (Wednesday) basically telling him that we would give him all the lee-way he wanted,” Mason said. “Three weeks ago he said he was gonna go to Quebec and play. A part of it was he had signed his first pro contract in Canada with Montreal.”

Mason said he would’ve given Guerrero the chance to go Quebec if he didn’t enjoy playing for York.

“I would give him an opportunity to come here, go through spring training and see what the league was about,” Mason said. “If he liked it, great. If it’s something he didn’t like to do and wanted to go to the Can-Am League, I would release him or send him up there in a trade.”

This isn’t the first time the Revs have had discussions with Guerrero, either.

“Originally we tried to talk to Vladimir about coming down here last season before he went to Toronto,” Revs’ baseball operations manager Andrew Ball said. “Polo knows Vlad’s brother. He also knows a guy who owns the facility where Vlad works out at. He’s been talking to the two of them. I know at least this past weekend he talked directly to Vladimir himself.

“I’m not surprised he signed with Long Island but I’m surprised he signed now because Polo just talked to him the other day and had no indication that he was going to sign anytime soon.”

Mason said the move makes sense.

“I just think maybe with the condition with the Yankees are in right now, playing in Long Island, it’s a little bit closer to New York,” Mason said. “If he can put up numbers right away he has a good shot at getting signed quickly.”

Mason said he was going to give Guerrero a chance to play left field in addition to being a designated hitter.

“I was gonna give him an opportunity to play in the field at least a couple times to show he can play out there, which would get interest from National League teams and not just the American League.”

Despite losing out on Guerrero, the Revs’ outfield is already stacked with former big leaguers Jeff Fiorentino, Tyler Graham and Jason Repko.

Plus, York fans might get a chance to see Guerrero play if he’s still a member of the Ducks when Long Island visits York for a three-game weekend series May 3-5.

“I’m happy that he’s in the league,” Mason said of Guerrero. “Would I like to have had him? Yes. It’s good for the league to have guys like him in here.”

From Polo: I caught with with Polanco by phone on Friday afternoon to get his take on the Guerrero discussions. Polo said he last talked to Guerrero on Wednesday.

“He said his agent was working on something,” Polanco said. “And then we just found out he signed with Long Island. He told me he had a home on Long Island. He thinks maybe because of the location of Long Island, it’s close to the Yankees and the Mets.”

Polanco said Guerrero is a nice, humble guy not wanting to make much noise. That makes sense considering how much Guerrero thought about going back to play in Canada, where he has spent most of his career.

“He’s a nice guy. He’s just glad to play the game,” Polanco said. “He’s not one on making noise. He doesn’t like to talk.”

Alumni updates: Former Revs’ pitchers Scott Rice and Shawn Hill had impressive outings Thursday night. In his first start for Class AAA Toledo, Hill went seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He gave up two home runs. Toledo lost to Louisville, 4-3.

In his second appearance for the New York Mets, Scott Rice pitched two-thirds of inning out of the bullpen, allowing two hits. The Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 2-1. Speaking of Rice, the left-hander was on the MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” on Tuesday. Click here to check out the York Revolution’s blog post about it, which includes the six-minute clip of Rice on the show.

DeMark: Former Revs reliever Mike DeMark, released by the Diadmondbacks last month, said in a text message Wednesday he is now in the minors of the Oakland Athletics’ organization.

Kazmir on DL: Former Sugar Land Skeeters’ pitcher Scott Kazmir will indeed miss his first scheduled start with the Cleveland Indians on Saturday. The Indians put the left-hander on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with what is being described as a right rib cage strain. The setback delays Kazmir’s return to the majors, where he last pitched in 2011 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

Tryouts: The York Revolution are set to hold open tryouts this Friday at Sovereign Bank Stadium. We already know one of the players scheduled to participate is 53-year-old Tony Phillips, an 18-year major league veteran who made his pro debut in 1978. Click here to read the full story from Revs’ media guru Paul Braverman on the Revolution’s blog.

Mason said Thursday night former Revs’ reliever Andy Wells might also participate. Wells, 24, is a free agent after being released by the Mets recently. Wells made just three appearances for York last season, allowing a total of 10 runs (eight earned) on eight hits and nine walks in 4.1 innings of work (16.62 ERA), before being released in June. He has been pitching indy ball his entire three-year pro career.

Ball said Thursday night Northern York High School graduate Nate Eppley could show up, too. Eppley is a 24-year-old right-handed reliever. A 29th-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2011, Eppley was released by the A’s last month. In 2012, the righty went 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 14 appearances at Class Low A Vermont and 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in seven games at Class A Burlington. If Nate’s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because his older brother, Cody, also a Northern York grad, is a New York Yankees’ pitcher.

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First off, props to Revs’ media guru Paul Braverman on pointing this one out. Listed on the American Association transactions page for March 8, relief pitcher R.J. Rodriguez has signed with the Lincoln Saltdogs. The news came on the same day the Revs announced the signings of former big league outfielder Jason Repko and relief pitchers Stephen Penney and Wade Korpi for the 2013 season.

This came as a bit of surprise to me. But it also makes a little bit of sense considering the guys heading over to the American Association as of late. A guy like Fehlandt Lentini, who hit .326 with 18 homers, 90 RBIs and scored 97 runs for a talented Lancaster Barnstormers’ club last season, has signed on to play for Winnipeg.

And former Revs’ outfielder Matt Padgett, who played for Southern Maryland last season, is heading to Kansas City (where he’ll be teammates with former Revs’ pitcher Shaun Garceau). Sure, Padgett had a down year with a .253 average last season, but he holds a career average of .278 in 564 Atlantic League games with three different clubs over the last five seasons. And sure guys like Lentini and Padgett, who are both 35 years old, aren’t young bucks anymore.

But there’s not much Atlantic League clubs can do to bring back their players if other teams are willing to offer more money. And it sounds like that may have been the case with R.J. Rodriguez.

“R.J. loves me to death. He told me it’s not personal,” Revs manager Mark Mason said by phone Friday night. “He needs a change of scenery. He’ll make a little bit more money than he did here.”

While Mason said his club “will be fine” without Rodriguez, the Revs still lose a pitcher who has been a solid option for them in the late innings of games for the better part of the last three seasons.

Rodriguez, 28, held a 7-9 record and 2.65 ERA in 142 combined games for York over the last three seasons. A former prospect of the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates, Rodriguez struck out 145 batters and walked 58 in 149.1 total innings in a Revs’ uniform.

Revs’ baseball operations manager Andrew Ball had told me a couple weeks ago Rodriguez was looking to start the 2013 season somewhere in the Mexican League.

But it looks like no Mexican League teams were interested in his services after the right-hander went 4-3 with a 4.86 ERA for Guasave in a winter league in Mexico this past off-season. It should be noted, however, that Rodriguez made 12 relief appearances and five starts for Guasave – Rodriguez last started in college in 2006.

Options: Anyway, going to the American Association isn’t always the best option even if there‘s more money there than in the Atlantic League. And I emphasize the word option. In the Atlantic League, players are on one-year contracts. On January 1 each year they become free agents and are free to sign wherever – except if they come back to the Atlantic League, their former team holds their rights.

In the American Association, however, teams hold a player-option for the following season, no matter where the player wants to go. And lets say if a player goes to an American Association club and under-performs and that team is no longer interested in him. Well, the team will first put the player on waivers. So, another American Association could come in and sweep him up.

“And if your picked up through waivers, you can’t get out of that league,” Mason said.

Mason is a fan of just having one-year contracts in indy ball.

“I was one of the first managers in the Frontier League to cross the options out,” Mason said. “If you want to try to trap guys in your league and not let players come and go then that’s up to the league. But one-year contracts are the way to go (in independent baseball).”

Mason said it’s tough to see Rodriguez go.

“It wasn’t so much about keeping him here. He knows I want to have him here,” Mason said. “I was probably his biggest supporter. We all know Etch’ (former Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren) was tough on him.

“R.J.’s biggest thing was our relationship and how close we are. He wanted to be 100 percent sure that I knew their was nothing personal about him not coming back to York. I told him I totally understand.”

Mason did the leave option open of possibly acquiring Rodriguez towards the end of 2013 season – the 100-game American Association season wraps up in the first week of September while the 140-game Atlantic League season finishes at the end of September.

“But that would be up to Lincoln if they want to trade him here,” Mason said. “And if we have any room (on the roster) to bring him here.”

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