Geestman back to the pen 40.2

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New Manager Tomaz Valdez has decided to make some changes with the pitching staff. Valdez said I don't like making changes too early in the season I prefer to give a guy 5-6 starts before I draw a conclusion one way or the other. But this pitching staff is struggling big time and to be honest multiple changes probably need made but we are going to start by sending Drees Geestman back to the pen to get him right.

He had tremendous success in 2039 in the 2nd half of the season as the closer and really seemed to come into his own. We have always liked his potential to start and we still believe he can start but we feel its best to put him in a position where he can succeed. We was happy with what we saw in the spring out of the rotation and felt he deserved the opportunity to start. In his 9 career starts he has an ERA approaching 7. Part of my job as being Manager is putting people in a position to succeed and if Drees feels more comfortable in the pen then we become a better ball club as a result.

We are going to continue to tinker with this rotation weekly until we find success. Minor league signing Michel Girard will jump into the rotation this week and help out. I am committed to figuring this rotation out nobody's job is safe in Montreal. I want 5 pitchers in this rotation that put us in position to win. We have a few options with the big club we will look at first and we also have a few guys in the minors that might get a look. The fan base is crying for Jorge Moreno to make his debut. When questioned about Moreno manager Valdez said that is GM Spencer's call when to bring him up. We are focused on the 27 guys in Montreal, if he becomes one of the 27 we will coach him up just like everyone else on this team.

On a side note RF Kevin Mackeith has agreed to a 3/14.5 million contract extension. Kevin approached us at the beginning of the season and indicated he wanted some security with the Blazers. He suffered a minor injury to his back out of spring and had to start on the DL and that caused him to think things through. He dropped his demands and realized he is only a play away from a bad injury that could negatively impact his earning potential so he wanted to cash in early.

This has the potential to save the Blazers 5-6 million in arbitration so it made sense for the Blazers to do this deal. His contract will expire at the conclusion of the 2043 season but he will still have 1 year of arbitration left to give him almost 7 full seasons with the Blazers. The Blazers will need to decide at the point to offer a long term extension or move on from him. But that decision is a few years away and the Blazers are thrilled to have MacKeith in their lineup going forward.