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The York Revolution made a history-making move on Friday - and the 2013 regular season is still nearly four weeks away.
The Revs announced the signings of two players, including longtime major-league pitcher Brett Tomko.
Tomko is York's first pitcher with 100 major league wins and has the most big-league service time of any Revs' pitcher in franchise history, according to Revs' play-by-play broadcaster Darrell Henry.
The Revs also announced the signing of shortstop Wilson Batista.
York now has 22 players under contract for the 2013 season, including nine former major leaguers.
Tomko: Tomko, 39, comes to the Atlantic League for the first time in his career. The 6-foot, 4-inch right-hander is less than two years
A California native, Tomko has 397 games of major-league experience under his belt, including 266 big-league starts. He owns a career record of 100-103 and a 4.65 ERA over 14 seasons in the major leagues. Drafted in 1995 in the second round by the Cincinnati Reds, Tomko debuted in the big leagues in 1997 and has played for a total of 10 different major-league clubs.
He spent the 2012 season playing for four separate minor-league clubs in the farm systems of two different big-league teams.
His winningest season came in 2003, when he went 13-9 for the St. Louis Cardinals. He won 10 or more games five times in his major-league career.
Batista: Batista, 32, is a Dominican Republic native who has spent the last five years playing independent ball.
The 2013 season will mark his return to the Atlantic League. He played for the Bridgeport Bluefish in 2008 and 2009. A right-handed hitter, Batista batted .308 in a combined 109 games with Bridgeport in those two seasons.
Batista spent the first four years of his pro career as a prospect of the New York Mets, reaching Class AAA New Orleans in 2007.
He played in a combined 89 games last season split between American Association club Wichita and North American League club Abilene, batting .300 with 12 homers and 60 RBIs.
Batista's signing rounds out York's infield, joining third baseman Andy Marte, second baseman Andres Perez and first baseman Johan Limonta. Batista will replace former Revs' shortstop Joe Thurston, who is expected to play in the Mexican League this season.
Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com. For more information on the Revolution and the Atlantic League, check out The York Dispatch Revolution Rumblings blog at www.ydtalk.com/revs.
