His ultimate goal is to be a head baseball coach in the Southeastern Conference. In particular, Chuck Jeroloman’s dream job is to the head guy at Auburn, where he played from 2002 to 2004.

To get there, the former York Revolution infielder understands he needs to be a well-rounded college coach. He also feels it’s just as important to develop connections in his native Florida, a recruiting hotbed for SEC schools. So it all makes sense for Jeroloman, 30, to leave his volunteer assistant gig at Texas Christian University for a job with the baseball program at Jacksonville (Florida) University, where’ll begin working in July.

“The longer I stick it out here in Texas on this side of the country, my roots are getting dug here,” Jeroloman said by phone Tuesday night. “I’ll ultimately be coaching in the Big 12 but I’m from Florida, I went to Auburn. I want to be a head guy in the SEC. My dream job would be the head guy at Auburn but that’s years down the road. My next step after Jacksonville is to hopefully be in the same position in the SEC. It’s harder to get to that job through Texas than Florida, because SEC roots are in Florida.”

Jeroloman will take on new responsibilities at Jacksonville, where he’ll be the recruiting coordinator for the baseball program in addition to coaching the infielders, outfielders and catchers.

“My next step in this profession is to be a recruiting coordinator,” he said. “I’m good at the baseball stuff, no doubt. That’s taken me far in this profession. But I need to be able to do that (recruit).”

The former Boston Red Sox prospect helped York capture its first Atlantic League crown in 2010, when he played in 135 games and batted .249 with 66 RBIs and 14 homers. He retired from the game after that season and turned to coaching at Palm Beach Central High School in Florida before taking a volunteer coaching position at TCU for the last two seasons.

With the Horned Frogs, Jeroloman’s main responsibilities included coaching infielders and catchers in addition to handling first-base coaching duties for games and putting together scouting reports of opponents. While TCU went just 29-28 overall and 13-12 in the Big 12 Conference, the Horned Frogs finished second in the conference in fielding percentage (.975) behind Kansas State (.977).

“I took over our infield at the end of last fall. We returned guys at short (stop), second (base) and first (base) who were all freshman starters a year before. And we’ve really been able to pick it over the last two years,” Jeroloman said.

Jacksonville: Jeroloman, who grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, now returns to his home state with his wife, Tara, and their three-year-old son, Owen, and eight-month-old son, Chase.

“West Palm Beach is about three hours (from Jacksonville). And my wife is from St. Petersburg, Flordia. Her dad actually graduated from Jacksonville.”

Jeroloman is part of a new coaching regime in the Dolphins’ program after Jacksonville went a combined 35-76 the last two years.

“The biggest thing is Jacksonville used to be a really good program when I was younger,” Jeroloman said. “The last two years the program has gone backwards big time. It’s a good opportunity for me to go back in and help get the program back on track.”

And his first shot at accomplishing that task will come against his old team.

“It’s funny,” he said. “Next year’s season opener for Jacksonville is at TCU.”

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A total of six teams and 23 players were involved in transactions last week, including six former major leaguers. It marked the most players involved in transactions in a one-week span this season since April 15-21, when a season-high 44 players were involved in roster moves. Three Atlantic League players got picked up by big league organizations, and three others had their contracts purchased by teams in foreign leagues. Two trades were made as well. Before we get to the transactions, here are some newsworthy items related to the Atlantic League…

 

Loudon groundbreaking: Developers held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for what they hope will soon be the home of the Loudon Hounds. The name of the ballpark was also revealed. The Hounds are still conditionally approved by the Atlantic League, but league president Peter Kirk said during a phone conversation last week that the Hounds submitted paperwork recently to become an official league member. Kirk said a decision could be made on the Hounds potential membership into the league in the comings weeks. The Hounds are aiming to be ready to go for the 2014 season.

All-Star voting begins: Voting for the 2013 Atlantic League All-Star game in Southern Maryland has begun. Click here to vote for your favorite Freedom Division and Liberty Division players.

Roger Clemens visits York, Somerset: Former Cy Young award winner and former Sugar Land Skeeters’ pitcher Roger Clemens visited the east coast last week to watch his son, Koby, and the Skeeters play in York and Somerset. In case you missed it, here’s a story featured in The York Dispatch on Clemens’s visit and another story on Clemens from Courier News’ Somerset beat reporter Ryan Dunleavy.

Attendance down across Atlantic League: In case you missed it, here’s a column featured in Monday’s York Dispatch newspaper about the decline in attendance seen in the Atlantic League so far this season. Several reasons are discussed about how this has happened and what can be done to improve things going forward.

Now on to the transactions…

 

BRIDGEPORT BLUEFISH: Tampa Bay Rays sign RHP Mike Colla, RHP Ty’Relle Harris picked up CPBL (Taiwan), Bridgeport signed OF James Simmons, OF Victor Diaz and LHP Kelvin Villa, released INF Russ Mitchell, Matt Spencer, traded LHP Mickey Jannis to Lake Erie (Frontier League)

In his first season in the Atlantic League, Colla went 2-4 with a 3.83 ERA in nine starts, striking out 47 and walking 17 in 51.2 innings of work. Colla, 26, is just five years removed from playing college ball at the University of Arizona. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Colla, a California native, the 14th round in 2008. Colla spent the entire 2011 and 2012 seasons with the Pirates’ Class AA Altoona affiliate, where he has a career 3.65 ERA in 79 games (33 starts). Colla reported to Class AA Montgomery.  He is the first Bridgeport player signed by a major league club this season.

Harris, 26, made his Park City and Atlantic League debut during his fifth season of professional baseball. Just four years removed from playing college ball at the University of Tennessee, the righty was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2009 and spent 36 games with the Braves’ organization before getting traded to the Cubs in the 2010 season for Derrek Lee. Harris’s best year came in 2011 while with Class AA Tennessee, where the reliever had a 1-0 record with a 2.10 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched. Harris posted a 2.76 ERA in 10 relief appearances for Bridgeport, striking out 38 and walking 11 in 29.1 innings. Harris is the fifth Atlantic League player this season to get his contract purchased by a team from a foreign league.

Simmons returns to Bridgeport after hitting .289 with 13 homers, 45 RBIs, 47 runs scored and 12 stolen bases in 93 games for the ‘Fish last year.

Diaz is a former big leaguer who started the 2013 campaign splitting time with Mexico City and Laguna of the Mexican League. In 26 combined games in the Mexican League, he batted .304 with four homeruns, five doubles, 17 runs batted in and 18 runs scored. An Dominican Republic native who went to school in Illinois, Diaz makes his Atlantic League debut with Bridgeport after spending the 2012 season overseas in Japan. Diaz, 31, has 147 games of big league experience, last playing there in 2007 with the Texas Rangers. He is a career .277 hitter in 725 games at the Class AAA level.

Villa, 27, also began his 2013 campaign in the Mexican League with Laguna. In eight starts there, he went 2-2 with a 4.47 ERA in 44.1 innings pitched. His 2012 season was spent with Sugar Land, where the the lefty had a 4-8 record and 5.54 ERA in 28 games  (11 starts). A former prospect of the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals, Villa will play in the Atlantic League for the fourth-straight season in his now 10-year pro career..

Jannis, 25, made his Atlantic League debut with Bridgeport after posting a 2.53 ERA in 34 games (three starts) last season with Lake Erie. The California native is just three years removed from playing college ball at Cal State Bakersfield. He spent the first two years of his pro career in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization, reaching Class High A Charlotte in 2011. In 10 relief appearances for Bridgeport, Jannis went 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA, striking out six and walking six in 16.2 innings of work. It’s unclear what Bridgeport acquired in the trade, but the Bluefish had acquired Jannis earlier this season from Lake Erie for a player to exchanged later, so maybe this current deal completes the old deal involving Jannis.

Mitchell played in just 16 games for Bridgeport, going 7-for-43 (.163) at the plate with no extra-base hits or RBIs and two runs scored. Spencer batted .235 with no homers, 10 doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs and 12 runs scored in 32 games for Bridgeport.

The ‘Fish now have 29 players under contract (outfielder Brian Anderson and pitchers Wardell Starling and Jordan Roberts are inactive and pitchers Keith Bilodeau and Adam Carr and outfielder Adam Greenberg are on the disabled list), including 13 former big leaguers and 13 players who are in their first seasons in the Atlantic League.

CAMDEN RIVERSHARKS: Cleveland Indians sign INF Paddy Matera, Camden signed INF D’Angelo Jimenez

Matera, 25, earned his first affiliated contract by getting signed by the Indians. Now in just his fourth pro season, Matera had played independent ball in the American Association, Can-Am Association and Atlantic League since coming out of Lynn University in 2009. A New Jersey native, Matera led the ‘Sharks in batting average (.304), home runs (six), runs scored (31) and doubles (13) and was second in hits (48) and plate appearances (158). The middle infielder also had 18 RBIs and 10 walks. He reported to Class High A Carolina. Matera is the third Camden player signed by a big league organization this year.

Jimenez, 35, is a former big leaguer who comes back to the Atlantic League for the second time in his now 19-year pro career. The Dominican Republic native has 641 games of big league experience split between seven teams from 1999 to 2007. He is a career .292 hitter in 848 games at the Class AAA level. The switch-hitter makes his Camden debut after playing in in 14 games earlier this season for Newark (Can-Am Association), where he batted .281 with a homer and 10 RBIs in 57 plate appearances. He last played in the Atlantic League when the Newark Bears were a member of the Atlantic League in 2009.

The ‘Sharks now have 27 players under contract (pitchers Mike Antonini and Mike McGuire are on the disabled list), including six former big leaguers.

LONG ISLAND DUCKS: Signed INF Bill Hall and RHP Bob Zimmerman, released INF Gabe Suarez and LHP Royce Ring, traded INF Murray Watts to El Paso (American Association)

Hall, 33, is a former big leaguer who begins his first season on Long Island and in the Atlantic League. He is a veteran of 11 seasons at the Major League level, spending time with six teams (Brewers, Mariners, Red Sox, Astros, Giants and Orioles). His best season came in 2006 with the Brewers when he batted .270 with 35 home runs, 85 RBI, 101 runs and 39 doubles in 148 games. The Mississippi native began the 2013 season with Salt Lake (AAA, Angels) of the Pacific Coast league and compiled one homer, seven RBI and four runs in 21 games while batting just .164 before being released May 19.

Zimmermann, 31, returns for his third season in a Ducks uniform after making a team-high 27 starts in 2012 and posting a 4.32 ERA. He finished second in the league in strikeouts with 126 and fourth in the league with 179 innings pitched. The right-hander also made two starts in the playoffs and struck out 10 batters in eight and one-third innings pitched.

Watts, 25, mades his Atlantic League debut with the Ducks after playing in 16 games earlier this season with the Kansas City Royals’ Class High A Wilmington affiliate, where he posted a .172 batting average with three doubles, a triple and an RBI in 16 games. Watts went 16-for-63 (.254) at the plate in 16 games with Long Island.

Suarez held a .221 average in 86 plate appearances (29 games) for the Ducks. Ring, who signed with the Ducks two weeks ago, gave up three earned runs on nine hits over 3.1 innings (8.10 ERA, four relief appearances).

The Ducks now have 31 players under contract (infielder Ryan Strieby, outfielders Vladimir Guerrero, Ray Navarrette and Matt Fleishman and pitchers Matt Way and Josh Lansford are inactive), including 11 with major league experience.

SOMERSET PATRIOTS: Signed LHP Ben Kozlowski and OF Cory Aldridge

Kozlowski, 32, is returning to the game after last playing professionally in 2009. A Florida native, Kozlowski saw two games in the majors in 2002 with the Texas Rangers but hasn’t been back since. His last full season came in 2008, when he posted a 4.74 ERA in 26 games (four starts) over in Japan for Hiroshima.

Aldridge spent time at the big league level with the Atlanta Braves in 2001 and the Los Angeles Angels in 2010. He comes to the Atlantic League for the first time in his now 16-year pro career after seeing action in the Mexican League earlier this season with Quintana Roo and Monclova, batting a combined .228 with three homers and 14 RBIs.

The Pats’ now have 30 players under contract (infielder Anderson Hernandez, outfielder Jeff Baisley and pitchers David Harden, Brad Thompson and Ryan Zamorsky are inactive while outfielder Joe Holden is on the disabled list), including 11 with experience at the big league level.

SUGAR LAND SKEETERS: Chicago White Sox signed RHP Michael Nix, Skeeters signed INF Jeff Dominguez, OF Reid Gorecki, INF Russ Mitchell and RHP Clint Everts

The right-hander went 4-10 with a 5.00 ERA in 31 games (16 starts) for a struggling Skeeters club in 2012 before enjoying a stellar 2013 season with the Sugar Land, which held a 33-13 record at the time of Nix’s departure. This year, Nix held opponents to three combined runs in his first seven games before giving up six runs on just four hits in six innings pitched in his last start Sunday against Somerset to take his first loss of the year. In eight total games (seven starts) for Sugar Land this season, Nix posted a 5-1 record and 1.81 ERA, striking out 40 and walking 15 in 44.2 innings. A former prospect of the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies, Nix will report to the White Sox Class AAA Charlotte affiliate. He is the fourth Skeeters player to get picked up by a major league team this season, which is tied with York for the most players signed by a big-league organization out of the Atlantic League.

Dominguez, 26, comes to the Atlantic League for the first time in his now 10-year pro career. A former prospect of the Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlins, Dominguez has 70 games of experience at the Class AAA level, where he owns a career .215 batting average. A native of Puerto Rico, Dominguez split last season between the Marlins’ Class AA Jacksonville and Class AAA New Orleans affiliates, hitting a combined .237 in 107 games.

Gorecki, 32, is a former major leaguer who comes back to the Atlantic League for the second-straight season, his first in Sugar Land. A New York native, Gorecki’s only time in the majors came in 31 games in 2009 with the Atlanta Braves. Last season, Gorecki hit .230 in 19 games with Camden and .281 in 85 games with Long Island.

Mitchell joins Sugar Land in the same week he was released by Bridgeport after playing in 16 games for the Bluefish, going 7-for-43 (.163) at the plate with no extra-base hits or RBIs and two runs scored. Mitchell saw 40 combined games of action at the major league level with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010 and 2011.

Everts, 28, is a Houston native who has 63 relief appearances at the Class AAA level, where he has a career 5-4 record 4.07 ERA. A fifth overall draft choice of the Montreal Expos in 2002, the right-hander makes his Atlantic League debut after splitting time earlier this season between the Toronto Blue Jays’ Class AA New Hampshire and Class AAA Buffalo affiliates, combining for a 8.05 ERA in 15 appearances before getting released May 18.

The Skeeters now have 28 players under contract (infielder Anthony Granato is inactive while outfielders Steve Moss and Fernando Perez and pitcher Gilbert De La Vara are on the disabled list), including 13 with time in the majors and 10 who are in their first seasons in the Atlantic League.

YORK REVOLUTION: 1B Brian Burgamy signed by Campeche (Mexican League), RHP Nick Green signed by Yucatan (Mexican League)

Burgamy left the Revs with the team lead in batting average (.345) home runs (nine), runs scored (38), total bases (98), walks (32) and triples (three). He was also second on the team in hits (57) behind Andres Perez. Burgamy spent all of his first six years as a pro in the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system before first coming to the Atlantic League in 2008, a season in which he also spent time in the New York Mets’ organization. He then played four straight seasons in Camden before joining York this year.

Green left the team after going 3-0 with a 3.79 ERA in nine starts, striking out 34 and walking 18. A Georgia native, Green was first drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 35th round in 2004. He later reached the Angels’ Class AAA Salt Lake affiliate in 2008 and posted an 8-8 record and 5.32 ERA in 28 starts there. He then spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization before coming to the Atlantic League in 2011. Green went 19-16 with a 3.81 ERA in 53 games (51 starts) for Southern Maryland in 2011 and 2012.

Burgamy and Green make up a total of five Atlantic League players this season who have been signed by teams from foreign leagues. The Revs now have 25 players under contract, including 10 with big league experience.

Previous Atlantic League news, transactions:

May 27-June 2

May 20-26

May 13-19

May 6-12

April 29-May 5

April 22-28

April 15-21

April 8-14

April 1-7

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Credit the Atlantic League for not being afraid to take risks.

After all, sometimes the best way to succeed at something is to try to succeed, rather than not try at all.

The league hit home runs in recent experiments by adding an expansion franchise in Sugar Land (Texas) in the 2012 season and implementing new pace-of-game rules this season to speed up the completion of games.

The Skeeters drew an average crowd of 6,650 fans a game last year, which was tops in the league. And through 47 games for the York Revolution this season, more than half (25 games) have been completed in under three hours.

Those experiments have proven to be successful. But another recent experiment has had opposite results.

The league opted to start the 2013 schedule a week earlier — and end it a week earlier — than normal this season. The decision played a large role in attendance being down across the board through the end of May.

“There are pros and cons,” league president Peter Kirk said last week. “All of the clubs do a lot of school programs. York does. It seems that the schools and teachers would appreciate bringing the kids out to the ballpark at the end of the term when not a lot is going on in school, as opposed to the beginning (of the school year).”

York averaged 3,659 fans in 26 openings through the end of May, click here to continue reading.

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The York Revolution announced Friday that starting pitcher Nick Green has accepted a contract with Yucatan, of the Mexican League.

Green is a big blow to the Revs’ rotation. The right-hander leaves the team after going 3-0 with a 3.79 ERA in nine starts, striking out 34 and walking 18. He was scheduled to make his start for York at Camden on Saturday.

Revs’ manager Mark Mason first learned of Green’s decision Wednesday to leave the team. Luckily for Mason, he has a couple relievers who could fill a spot-start role in right-hander Pedro Liriano and left-hander Kris Regas. Lefties Yunior Novoa and Joe Torres can also go long out of the ‘pen.

Green is the second Revolution player to leave the club for the Mexican League this week after first baseman Brian Burgamy accepted a contract from Campeche on Wednesday. Overall, four players have signed with a Mexican League club after playing in the Atlantic League this season.

Green: Green came to York after spending the off-season playing winter ball in Venezuela with the Lara Cardinals, where he was teammates with former Revs’ players Joe Thurston and Ryan Feierabend. In three starts and one relief appearance for Lara, Green was 0-1 with a 7.43 ERA.

“I got back from winter ball in late January and I took the rest of January off into mid-February and after that I started throwing again,” Green had said in an interview back in spring training in April.

Green spent the month of March playing for the Long Island Storm, a team comprised of current and former Atlantic League players that scrimmages teams down in Florida during Major League Baseball’s spring training. Green, 28, said the prior experience of having gone through an Atlantic League spring training helps.

“Definitely. You still have a month-and-a-half of getting ready,” he had said. “You come here the first day, work on fastball and changeup. The next day fastball, changeup, curveball. I throw also a cutter.”

A Georgia native, Green was first drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 35th round in 2004. He later reached the Angels’ Class AAA Salt Lake affiliate in 2008 and posted an 8-8 record and 5.32 ERA in 28 starts there.

He then spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization before coming to the Atlantic League in 2011. Green went 19-16 with a 3.81 ERA in 53 games (51 starts) for Southern Maryland in 2011 and 2012.

Green will join former York outfielder Joe Thurston and former Bridgeport Bluefish infielder Angel Berroa on Yucatan roster.

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Former Revs’ pitcher Michael Nix was signed by the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Nix, 30, helped the Revs win back-to-back Atlantic League titles as a reliever in 2010 and 2011.

He then went to the Atlantic League’s Sugar Land Skeeters in that club’s inaugural season in 2012. With the Skeeters,
he attempted to be a starting pitcher for the first time in his eight years as a pro.

The right-hander went 4-10 with a 5.00 ERA in 31 games (16 starts) for a struggling Skeeters club in 2012 before enjoying a stellar 2013 season with the Sugar Land, which currently owns the league’s best record at 33-13.

“Last year I knew Michael was like a set-up/closer kind of guy,” Skeeters’ manager Gary Gaetti said Tuesday following Sugar Land’s 5-4 win at York. “He had some stuff going on with his delivery. He’s always had a good arm. I couldn’t get him in situations to really succeed whether it was setting up or closing. I didn’t know how long to keep him in or take him out. The changes he went through last year I said we need some guys to get us through the fifth or sixth inning. He made the change and it’s been tremendous for him.”

This year, Nix held opponents to three combined runs in his first seven games before giving up six runs on just four hits in six innings pitched in his last start Sunday against Somerset to take his first loss of the year. In eight total games (seven starts) for Sugar Land this season, Nix posted a 5-1 record and 1.81 ERA, striking out 40 and walking 15 in 44.2 innings.

“(Sunday) was the worst start of the season for him,” Gaetti said of Nix. “He only gave up four hits and he gave up six runs but everything came with two strikes and two outs. And yet he grinded and got into the sixth inning and was around 100 pitches and went back out there. He pitched better in the sixth (inning)  than he did in the first and second.”

A former prospect of the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies, Nix will report to the White Sox Class AAA Charlotte affiliate. He is the fourth Skeeters player to get picked up by a major league team this season, which is tied with York for the most players signed by a big-league organization out of the Atlantic League.

A total of 17 players have been signed by a major-league club out of the Atlantic League this year.

“He’s one guys that I would like to lose for the right reasons,” Gaetti said of Nix earlier this week. “He’s pitched that well. He’s young enough. I think he deserves another shot (in affiliated ball). He’s got a good arm. I love having him around. He’s a horse. He really is.”

Colla signed by Rays: The Tampa Bays signed Bridgeport Bluefish right-hander Mike Colla on Thursday, according to a report from mlbdailydish.com reporter Chris Cotillo. In his first season in the Atlantic League, Colla went 2-4 with a 3.83 ERA in nine starts, striking out 47 and walking 17 in 51.2 innings of work.

Colla, 26, is just five years removed from playing college ball at the University of Arizona. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Colla, a California native, the 14th round in 2008. Colla spent the entire 2011 and 2012 seasons with the Pirates’ Class AA Altoona affiliate, where he has a career 3.65 ERA in 79 games (33 starts).

Colla will report to Class AA Montgomery, according to Cotillo’s report. He is the first Bridgeport player signed by a major league club this season.

All-Star voting begins: Voting for the 2013 Atlantic League All-Star game in Southern Maryland has begun. Click here to vote for your favorite Freedom Division and Liberty Division players.

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Before we get to the news on the departure of Brian Burgamy to the Mexican League, I wanted to point out a couple newsworthy items:

–Here’s a recent blog post with updates on how 12 former York Revolution players are doing in the minors and majors

–Here’s the game story from York’s 7-3 win over Sugar Land on Wednesday night. It marked the first time the Revs beat the Skeeters this season and also the first win over Sugar Land since last September. York collected 11 hits in the winning effort while starter Corey Thurman put on another solid performance. A Revs player also came up a single shy of the cycle.

 

He has said it before when Johan Limonta got signed by the San Diego Padres or Matt Fox got picked up by the New York Mets. York Revolution manager Mark Mason isn’t a ‘woe is me’ type of guy. He’s happy for players like Limonta and Fox getting an opportunity to go affiliated ball, where they can prove themselves in hopes to get to the majors.

But it’s a little different when a player leaves for the Mexican League, where players can sometimes make two to three times more than they do in the Atlantic League.

“I’m not woe is me but I think at some point we have to try to find a way to deter that from happening,” Mason said Wednesday night. “I don’t know what the right way is. I think guys getting signed….I think they throw enough money at them to make it tough to say no. Everybody has their situation. Everybody has been going through it. When I was in Atlantic City back in 2000 I went through it.”

The latest player in that situation is slugger Brian Burgamy, the York Revolution first baseman who has decided to sign with Campeche of the Mexican League.

“That just happened out of the blue,” Mason said. “He walked in here two days ago, maybe. He told me he was talking to an agent and they made him an offer. And then yesterday they sent him an itinerary, which he declined. He wanted to play yesterday (Tuesday) and I told him ‘Alright but I’m definitely not gonna play you (Wednesday) just for the simple fact I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Burgamy was not with the Revs on Wednesday night, when they beat Sugar Land for the first time this season, 7-3. Burgamy will leave for Mexico on Thursday, according to baseball operations manager Andrew Ball.

Burgamy left the Revs with the team lead in batting average (.345) home runs (nine), runs scored (38), total bases (98), walks (32) and triples (three). He was also second on the team in hits (57) behind Andres Perez.

Mason said Andy Marte will slide over from third to first base to take Burgamy’s spot, with Wilson Batista moving from short stop to taking Marte’s old post at third and infielder Manny Mayorson filling in at short. The Revs also activated outfielder James Shanks (knee) to fill the open roster spot left by Burgamy’s departure.

“It’s a big hole to fill. It’s hard to replace that,” Mason said. “I’ll keep Andy (Marte) at first for awhile. I got a couple other guys I can put at first base. But we’re in the process right now of trying to do some things with our roster, it’s just a question of who we can get.”

Burgamy: York acquired the switch-hitting Burgamy, 31, in the off-season from Camden in a trade that sent catcher Salomon Manriquez to the Riversharks. A former prospect of the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets, Burgamy will enter his sixth season in the Atlantic League in 2013. Last season, he batted .292 with 20 homers, 81 RBIs and 82 runs scored in 122 games.

Burgamy spent all of his first six years as a pro in the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system before first coming to the Atlantic League in 2008, a season in which he also spent time in the New York Mets’ organization. He then played four straight seasons in Camden before joining York this year.

Mason said this will mark Burgamy’s second time of his career playing in the Mexican League.

An Oklahoma native, Burgamy is the third Atlantic League player to jump over to the Mexican League this season. He joins former Lancaster outfielder Jerry Owens, who signed with Campeche two weeks ago. Former Bridgeport Bluefish Wes Bankston is also listed as a first baseman on the Campeche roster.

Mason wouldn’t rule out seeing Burgamy return later this year when the Mexican League finishes in August.

“As a matter of fact, I got four guys down there right now who have expressed interest in coming here (when the Mexican League season is done),” Mason said.

Tomko note: Brett Tomko (shoulder) is still inactive but is scheduled to make his next start Sunday, Mason said. It will be his first start in nearly two weeks.

Signings: Somerset starting pitcher Mitch Atkins got picked up by the Atlanta Braves earlier this week and assigned to Class AA Mississippi. Camden infielder Paddy Matera also got signed by the Cleveland Indians and assigned to Class High A Carolina. Both Camden and Somerset have each had three players picked up by major league organizations this season. Click here for the full list.

Loudon groundbreaking: Developers held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for what they hope will soon be the home of the Loudon Hounds. The name of the ballpark was also revealed. The Hounds are still conditionally approved by the Atlantic League, but league president Peter Kirk said during a phone conversation Wednesday afternoon that the Hounds submitted paperwork recently to become an official league member. Kirk said a decision could be made on the Hounds potential membership into the league in the comings weeks. The Hounds are aiming to be ready to go for the 2014 season.

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Near the start of each month during the baseball season, this is a blog post dedicated to updating fans on what former York Revolution players are doing in the majors or affiliated ball.  With 12 former Revs falling into that category, it may be hard to keep track of everything that’s happening. So here’s a blog post to help make sense of it all (all stats are through June 4 unless otherwise noted):

LHP Scott Rice, New York Mets: In his first season in the majors in his 15th year as a pro, Rice has been solid for the New York Mets. Well, at least he was until his most recent outing at Miami on Monday night, when he blew a two-run sixth-inning lead for the Mets by walking the bases loaded before giving up a two-run, game-tying double to Marcell Ozuna followed by an RBI groundout from Chris Coghlan. Rice (3-4) took the loss in the Marlins’ 11-6 win. Overall on the season, the 6-foot-6 left-hander has a 4.00 ERA in 32 relief appearances, holding opponents scoreless in all but five of those games. He has struck out 22 and walked 18.

RHP Shawn Hill, Class AAA Toledo (Detroit Tigers): After throwing a complete game in his fourth start of the year May 5, the rest of the month of May wasn’t kind to Hill. In his next five starts, he gave up a combined 25 runs (23 earned) in 23.2 innings of work. In his last start June 4, Hill went just an inning after getting tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits. For the season, the former big leaguer has an 0-7 record and 6.38 ERA in 13 starts for Toledo, striking out 46 and walking 17.

LHP Ian Thomas, Class AA Mississippi (Atlanta Braves): In his first season at Class AA in his fifth season as a pro, the 26-year-old Thomas has been stellar for the Mississippi Braves. A 6-foot-4 left-hander, Thomas has posted a 3-2 record and 1.80 ERA in 22 relief appearances, striking out 47 and walking 10.

LHP Ryan Feierabend, Class AAA Round Rock (Texas Rangers): A former big leaguer, Feierabend has been a dependable starter for Round Rock, compiling a 3-1 record and 4.02 ERA in seven starts, striking out 30 and walking 16. He’s only gone beyond six innings in just one of those seven starts. Feierabend earned the call-up to triple-A after going 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA in five starts at Class AA Frisco earlier this season.

RHP Omar Javier, Class AA Richmond (San Francisco Giants): In his first season at Class AA in his six-year pro career, Javier is 4-0 with a 3.63 ERA in 16 games, including two starts, at Richmond. As a reliever, the right-hander is 4-0 with a 3.18 ERA. In his two starts, Javier has a 5.68 ERA. For the year, the Dominican Republic native has struck out a total of 26 and walked 18.

LHP Justin Hampson, Class AAA Las Vegas (New York Mets): With a scoreless third-of-an-inning on Tuesday, Hampson has now held opponents scoreless in his last six relief appearances to improve his ERA to 4.38. In 27 games for Las Vegas this season, the former big leaguer has a 2-0 record with 19 strikeouts and 10 walks.

OF Michael Hernandez, Class High A Lakeland (Detroit Tigers): After batting .289 in 11 games at Class A West Michigan earlier this season, Hernandez earned a promotion to Class High A Lakeland, where he is hitting .236 with four homers, 20 RBIs and 14 runs scored in 35 games. One of those homers came June 4 in a 2-for-4, four RBI, one run scored performance at the plate.

RHP Mike DeMark, Class AA Midland (Oakland Athletics): After beginning the year in extended spring training with the A’s, DeMark got a job at Midland, where he is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 relief appearances, striking out 15 and walking 11 in 16 innings pitched.

RHP Josh Judy, Class AA Arkansas (Los Angeles Angels): Since being plucked off the Revs’ roster last month by the Angels, Judy has done well at Arkansas, holding opponents scoreless in seven of nine relief appearances thus far. The right-hander owns a 1.80 ERA over 10 innings of work, striking out 12 and walking three.

1B/OF Johan Limonta, Class AA San Antonio (San Diego Padres): Limonta has picked right up where he left off in York after getting signed by the Padres last month. In 23 games so far at San Antonio, the Cuban defector is holds a .284 batting average, which is good enough for fourth on the team (through June 5). He has one homer with four doubles, five RBIs and 11 runs scored.

RHP Matt Fox, Class AAA Las Vegas (New York Mets): Fox has already made four starts since joining Las Vegas after pitching for York earlier this year. The right-hander has gone 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in 22 innings of work to this point, striking out 13 and walking two. A former big leaguer, Fox gave up a combined six earned runs in 10 innings over his first two starts with Las Vegas for holding opponents to four combined runs over 12 innings in his last two starts.

SS Andy Gonzalez, Class AA Reading (Philadelphia Phillies): Gonzalez left York to return to his native Puerto Rico for personal reasons, but has already played in four games with Reading after being picked up by the Phillies on May 31. So far, the former major leaguer is 2-for-15 at the plate (.133 through Wednesday) with an RBI and a run scored.

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