New head coach Bernie Beckman will welcome four more new players to the roster of the Dutch Hoofdklasse club RCH MEDIA MONKS. The most known of the quartet is probably the former Minor League hurler Chris Mowday. According to Rogier van Zon of Honkbalsite.com additionally two Netherlands Antilleans will bolster the team of the seventh-ranked team this upcoming season. Pitcher Jurandy Girigorie and catcher Giovanni Valmont are hoping to make an impression for the Antilles National Team, which is qualified for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Mowday is a 27-year-old right-handed pitcher from Brisbane, Australia. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays organization as an undrafted amateur free agent in 1997 and made his professional debut in the Pioneer League one year later. After trades to the Oakland Athletics and Chicago Cubs he also pitched for their farm teams until his release following the 2004 season. He played in a total of 177 minor leagues (29starts) between the Rookie and High-A level with an ERA of 4.19 and 409 strikeouts (211 walks) in 374 innings.
Mowday also was part of numerous Australian National Teams in the past and pitched in his home country during the Northern Hemisphere winters. He collected the MVP trophy in the Claxton Shield competition in 2008 (ERA 1.17) and went on to play Independent League ball with Edmonton in the Golden League (just three starts, ERA 9.82). During the most recent Claxton Shield he had an ERA of 5.23 with 18 strikeouts in 32 innings. He is scheduled to arrive in the Netherlands on April 2.
The 22-year-old catcher Valmont has something in common with Modway, as he was named MVP after the 2008 season in Curacao. He batted .364 (OBP .447/SLG .485) with nine runs scored and 29 RBI in 19 games for Sta. Rosa Indians. Girigorie is 25 years old and pitched for the same team. The left-hander had a 2-1 record with an ERA of 2.51 and 26 strikeouts (22 walks) in 28 2/3 innings in 2008.
RCH also awaits a decision in the double contract situation of Mihai Burlea. The Dutch and Italian Federations are supposed to talk about it during the current CEB congress in San Marino.
