Revs sign former big leaguer Fiorentino

Posted by John Walk on July 13, 2012 in Brandon Haveman, Jeff Fiorentino, Lancaster Barnstormers, Roster, Signings, York Revolution

OF Jeff Fiorentino

The York Revolution made a couple of roster moves on Friday, signing former major league outfielder Jeff Fiorentino and placing outfielder Brandon Haveman on the inactive list.

There’s no injury worries concerning Haveman. Rather, the speedy lead-off man is taking time off to help his wife, Sarah, move from their old home in Indiana to their new home near Dayton University. The school recently named Sarah the new cross country coach.

Fiorentino: The case of 29-year-old Fiorentino is an interesting one. Back in 2005, he was just a couple years removed from playing college ball at Florida Atlantic University. In just his second year as an Orioles prospect, Fiorentino was 22 and playing at Class A Frederick when Baltimore called him up to the big leagues for the first time in his career.

According to published reports, Fiorentino was a tweener-type, a good organizational guy who had been rushed to the bigs but not a decent prospect. He spent parts of the 2005 and 2006 seasons with the Orioles, getting into 32 games, and hitting .253 with a homer and 12 RBIs. He has mostly bounced around between the O’s and Oakland A’s organizations since then, playing in two big league games with the A’s in 2008 and 24 games with the O’s in 2009. In all, Fiorentino has 58 games at the major league level, where he has a career .270 batting average with one homer and 21 RBIs.

Fiorentino, who is a left-handed batter, comes over to York after playing at Class AAA Sacramento River Cats (A’s), who released him on June 2 after he hit just .186 in 16 games.

Injury concerns? Revs’ skipper Andy Etchebarren had said last Sunday that outfielder James Shanks (tendonitis, hamstring) is battling issues in his left leg, while third baseman Ramon Castro has an undisclosed injury. Castro did not see action in Wednesday’s Atlantic League All-Star game. It’s unclear if either player will miss any time. But Fiorentino’s addition definitely gives York some depth in the outfield right now.

2nd half opener: York opens up the second half of the season tonight (Friday) against Atlantic League Freedom Division rival Lancaster. The Barnstormers won the first-half Freedom Division by nine games over York. As a result, the Revs will now be aiming for the second-half division title or a wildcard spot to make the playoffs. The Revs will play Lancaster at home seven times this month before finishing up the head-to-head with the Barnstormers with three games at Lancaster in August. York went 6-4 against Lancaster in the first half of the season.