Infielder Danny Sandoval joined the Revolution Monday. And that's no surprise. The former major league shortstop had been expected to join the club since he arrived in York Wednesday.
But the Revs released three players including the franchise's opening day starter and victories leader Wayne Franklin. The left-hander had played parts of three seasons with the Revs, jumping to Taiwan for a brief stay in 2007 and Mexico in 2008. Both times he returned to help the club.
As is customary for the veteran, he did not look sharp early this season -- appearing in three games and pitching four innings with a 4.50 ERA. The 25 batters he faced hit a combined .353 against him, but Franklin usually improves as the season progresses.
UPDATE: Reached Monday night through a text message, Franklin wrote that he would not retire and has an offer to sign with an Atlantic League club. Revs radio broadcaster Darrell Henry was the first to report Franklin signed with Camden.
The Revs also released infielders George Sandel and Rayner Bautista, two men caught in the Revs overstocked middle infield. Capable of playing second, short and third -- Sandel and Bautista just did not earn enough time in the opening games this season to solidify a roster spot.
Part of that can be explained by the solid play of shortstop Brandon Pinckney (.281) and second baseman Keoni DeRenne (.276). Third baseman Jeff Eure, who has better career power numbers than Bautista and Sandel, has come around (batting .276) after a slow start.
In limited time, Bautista batted 1-for-11 in four games this season. Sandel batted .267 (4-for-15) but committed two errors in five games.
The Revolution and all Atlantic League teams are allowed to carry 27 active players on their rosters until May 31, when all rosters must be trimmed to 25. The Revs (2-7) wanted to accelerate the process.
York now has 25 active players, including Sandoval.
"We felt that it was time to get down to the number of players we needed to (by the end of May)," Revolution head of baseball operations Adam Gladstone said. "It's time to move forward with the guys we think are going to be in there on our everyday roster. We're at a point now where we want to settle in with who the go-to guys are going to be."
Gladstone said he passed on the contact information for teams that may be interested in signing the players released. Part of the reason for the early move, Gladstone said, was to allow the players to catch on with other independent teams -- including some teams in leagues that have not started play yet this year.
Franklin went 12-5 with a 5.73 ERA last season, he struck out 94 and walked 73. But he had company in the bullpen as left-handers Jason Kershner (0-1) and Brian Holliday (0-1) joined the club this season. Kershner and Holliday have higher ERAs and have allowed the opposition to hit the ball with more regularity than Franklin, but the team felt Kershner turned the corner by pitching four shutout innings in relief Saturday. The two left-handers the club kept are also younger, and last appeared in a major league organization's farm system in 2008. Franklin, 35, has not pitched in affiliated ball since 2006 -- when he played in the majors.
"For Wayne's career, he probably needed a change of scenery," Gladstone said. "And he wasn't going to get the innings he needed to continue his career here."
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