Revs add outfielder, drop Shanks
The Revs released long-time York outfielder James Shanks (above) last week. He batted just .249 with nine homers and 41 RBIs in 77 games in an injury-plagued 2012 season.
The York Revolution made an eye-opening move late Thursday night when the club announced the signing of veteran outfielder Johan Limonta and the release of outfielder James Shanks.
Below is the full press release put out by the team, which also includes Etch’s reaction to the move:
Limonta, 29, began the season at Triple-A Tacoma in the Seattle Mariners organization, where he batted .279 in 41 games played. He then played in the Mexican League with Mexico City, hitting a whopping .384 in 27 games. A year ago, the Cuban defector hit .319 with 14 home runs for Tacoma in his first promotion to the Triple-A level. An accomplished hitter in Seattle’s farm system where he has spent his entire seven-year pro career, Limonta was a Southern League All-Star with West Tennessee in 2010, when he batted .302 with 14 long balls. He is a career .297 hitter with 69 home runs and 420 runs batted in.
1B/OF Johan Limonta
Born in Havana, Cuba, Limonta attended school in the United States at Miami-Dade College before being drafted by Seattle in the 20th round of the 2006 draft. He joins current Revs Ryan Feierabend, Stephen Penney, Brandon Haveman, and Travis Scott as former Mariners farmhands now together in York.
With already five outfielders under contract, the release of Shanks helps the team to avoid a logjam in an already crowded outfield.
“That was one of the most difficult moves I’ve ever had to make,” said Etchebarren. “I love him like he’s one of my kids. We’ve been together for five years, and he’s been part of two championships here in York. But he’ll have the opportunity to sign elsewhere and get more at-bats than he would have gotten here. He’s excited about that.”
Shanks batted .249 with nine home runs and 41 RBI in 77 games in an injury-plagued 2012 season. He had only appeared in two of the team’s last six games.
It’s a drop-off of the numbers Shanks, 33, has put up the last two seasons with York. In 2010, he batted .325 with 19 homers and 86 RBIs in 131 games. The following year, he hit .314 with 12 homers and 61 RBIs in 101 games.
