You say "I didn't expect the kind of vitriol that has been directed at Adam Loewen" yet the headline of your blog was "Loewen leaves O's at the altar", kind of a shocking and tragic connotation there in that altar remark isn't it, Pete? Just an observation...

I didn't think Adam would ever make much of a comeback either, I'm more appalled by his decision to ditch the organization that gave him so much for such a childish reason. The kid needs to grow up. He made a life- and career-altering decision based on who he rooted for as a child. If it were a better package or more money, I could respect that decision. But he states he rooted for them as a kid, therefore he turned his back on everyone in this organization he devoted so much time to him. Whether or not Loewen will ever be a major league position player is irrelevant, he stabbed the Orioles in the back. I seriously doubt Toronto will be as loyal to him as he is to Toronto. He is not a kid or a fan anymore, he is a professional. I'm not heartbroken that we lost him, just really appalled at his reasons for jumping ship.

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: In this case, I DO write the headlines, but I don't think it's all that contradictory. He did leave the O's at the altar, but it's just not that big a deal, in my opinion.

The reaction is clearly not rational, but emotional. Baseball has nothing to do with it, Lowen is now basically an injured rookie position-player will trying against all odds to stick in the low minors. He would likely be the lowest rated player on any teams minor league roster. The reaction is more like the emotion of a woman scorned ... "Well we were never going to get along but how dare you go to HER!

Good Lord I just scrolled through the comments on your last blog and Baltimore fans need to get over it!! All that venom over a MINOR league hitting prospect? Dude we have bigger fish to fry with this organization...

You see, Pete, the difference between you and your readers, particularly those who tend to post on blogs, is rationality. You are expected to have it, they (we) frequently don't. It's an emotional response, and in this case it feels particularly like a sharp slap across the face to an organization already raw from eleven years and counting of losing and incompetence. This one feels bad also because the Orioles gave the guy a major league deal up front and got precious little to show for it, but were willing to see about making the transition to hitter to see if they could get something back for their investment. Then he goes and signs with his "hometown" team (yeah, I know, he's from the other side of the continent) instead of the organization that drafted him.

It's a reminder of Mussina signing with the Yankees. In both cases, if you look at it from the player's side, it's a business decision, and one that makes sense. We tend to look at it from a fan's perspective, which, as noted above, is not generally rational.

On the bright side, at least he didn't grow up a Yankees or Red Sox fan.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: It is kind of odd for a buy from British Columbia to consider the Jays his hometown team, since he probably -- geographically -- grew up 120 miles from where the Mariners play, but Canadians do consider the Blue Jays kind of a national team.

Peter i don't think people are upset that he is leaving,, they are upset because it looked like the orioles went out of there way to help him . They kept him on the 40 man roster so that he could accrue more pension time, they saved a spot in the hawaii instructional league for him , they were willing to give him a spring invite to the major league roster.My thinking is along the same line as yours in i really don't think he will amount to anything. On 2nd hand peter any team that can play hard ball with Nick a proven star in this league paying him 485,000 when they should have done what Tampa bay did with longoria, probably doesn't deserve any loyalty.

peter to a certain extent i think adam loewen did smack the orioles in the face by signing with the blue jays. the orioles stick with players they should have sent packing before investing a boat load of money on them.

I have to agree with you Peter on the Loewen comments. Six years is a long time and by the time he gets his swing back if he can, how many years would it take for him to he able to hit major league quality pitching. I think the Orioles will be better off using the open slot on another young player. Besides, where are you going to play him. If you put he in the outfield teams are going to run on his bum arm. We don't need another designated hitter.

Clyde
Pasadena

I have to agree with you Peter on the Loewen comments. Six years is a long time and by the time he gets his swing back if he can, how many years would it take for him to he able to hit major league quality pitching. I think the Orioles will be better off using the open slot on another young player. Besides, where are you going to play him. If you put he in the outfield teams are going to run on his bum arm. We don't need another designated hitter.

Clyde
Pasadena

I love how the orioles can never "steal" a player from another organization. Alls I can say is, at least...at least were not from Canada.

I don't see the Hamilton reference. Maybe Rick Ankiel?

Peter. Once again you summarized the situation realistically but yet fans here can't let it go. I'm amazed at the negative slant many people take on any roster move/trade/free-agent signing etc.
I guess it comes with the years of losing but we should look at the big picture here. Having Loewen down in the low minors isn't going to suddenly help make us competitive in 2-3 years.
The loyalty factor raised by many makes no sense at all. Baseball is a business and don't blame Loewen for signing the type of deal he did. The Orioles agreed to it and if he doesn't blow out his arm, maybe it looks like a good investment now. Drafting good baseball players is still a risky propostion and while we all hope that Matuz and Weiters become stars, there's no guarentee. Are the Orioles being 'disloyal'by releasing them after current contracts expire if they haven't reached their potential?
Is Brian Roberts being 'disloyal' be requesting a trade this winter instead of signing an extension? Is Daniel Cabrera a 'traitor' be refusing arbitration and moving elsewhere? Were the Orioles unfair not to let Jay Gibbons play out his contract instead of eating 11 mill?
It works both ways...

Pete,

I can definitely understand the guy wanting to go play for the team he grew up rooting for. Here is the problem I have. Signing with the Blue Jays after the Orioles made it known that they wanted to resign him is kind of like a rich kid whose parents always gave him everything and set up a multi-million dollar trust fund for him, spitting in his parents face and moving out of the mansion.

If the O's cant even keep a never was how can they expect to sign a good free agent?

Disagree: With our luck, he'll be DHing for the Jays in three years. The larger question is, why all the arm trouble in our young pitchers? As for Loewen's decision, he probably was as surprised as the Orioles when the Jays picked him up. It's ludicrous to think any Orioles pitcher would drill him when he first bats (and homers) against us. Baby, it's a business -- and if and when he gets on a major league field again, his friends will welcome him and nobody else will care. If you think any ballplayer will go after another one because he disappointed the Front Office, you don't know much about labor relations.

while it's a long shot he'll make it back to the majors it's just another example of bad front office organization from the O's.

Pete,
It has more to do with being a man, keeping your word and showing some loyalty.The Orioles invested a lot in Loewen and got little in return. I'm sure he and AM had a gentleman's agreement and a handshake that he would resign and Loewen showed what kind of person he was. If he had been a man he would have asked for his release in August. Instead he let the Orioles waste instructional time with him when it could have gone to a player dedicated to helping the Orioles.

I say good riddance and hope for a beaning or a K anytime we face him.

Peter
A question, Would it not make more sense to start the World Series on a Tuesday and Wednesday - off day Thursday- play Friday,Saturday and Sunday- off day Monday - play Tuesday and Wednesday.

The advantages are:1) working stiffs could watch the entire game on Friday night 2) There would be no conflict with Monday night football.

It seems too obvious - what did I miss?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I don't know, but I think it will be done that way next year because of the late start of the regular season.

Exactly! What are people so upset about? Loewen gave everything he had as a pitcher for the O's, but 2 MAJOR arm injuries ended his pitching career. He is now trying to re-invent himself. Psychologically - this guy has to be completely spent. Why is it that people have a tough time understanding that he might just need a fresh start? Where better for this fresh start than his home country - where he has had he greatest baseball success?

who cares.

i really think him leaving here is for the best.He won't make it as a hitter and all he would have done was take some at bats away from somebody else. But i do think it is a slap in the face to the organization, because they did go out of there way to help him. They keep him on the 40 man roster all year to give him service time which is important after somebody retires. they promised him a spring training invite . All this does is further demonstrate what players around the league must think about this organization , and that is why it will be impossible to get quality free agents to come here when your so called loyal players discard us like we don't exist.

This just shows what his true character is like. The Orioles were willing to work with him as much as it took to help him succeed (and already started working with him). He has no loyalty, and I wish we would have cut him when he first announced his long shot chance of making a come back as a hitter.

To the poster who said we never steal from other teams, we always get stolen from.

It may feel like that, but Guthrie seems like a steel to me, and the Bedard trade was big time Robbery, and the tejada deal was a pretty good steal in my opinion.

That is all recent. Sure out past has been ugly.

hard to consider loewen a steal. Maybe in five years we can look back and call it a steal, if he somehow pulls it off.

Wieters will make everyone forget about this next year. Now we need a SS, and I'll take first basemen too. Our outfield is in good shape. Let's save the emotion for when they can't sign Markakis...

If any of you watch WWE Wrestling, have you ever noticed when a wrestler is suppose to be of Canadian heritage, they always act so smug and insist that they are so superior to Americans? Well, there is your answer as to why he moved on. He is not a Oriole and never really was. He used us at the deadline of his signing period after he was drafted. Got the huge contract, unable to live up to the hype, and dump the O's like yesterdays garbage. I know the injuries are responsible for his inability to continue pitching, but do you really think he would of stuck it out with the O's? I don't. But like some of the posters have stated, it's the time and money he cost the team that iritates me the most.

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I don't know what happens on WWE, but I've spent a lot of time in Canada and have found little evidence of what you're saying. Most of my experience has been in the Toronto area, but I have always found Canadians to be very friendly and down-to-earth. In fact, the only Canadian I know at all personally that I don't particularly like is Erik Bedard, and I wouldn't judge anybody by his quirky personality.

If you want to depress yourself, take a look at the Orioles' first round draft choices over the last ten years.
Our team has spent a fortune on a group of "never was" players. Our mistakes include Rowell, Townsend, Loewen, Smith, Paradise, Bigbie, Reed, and Stahl. Mike Fontenot is a decent player, but we gave him to the Cubs for Sosa. What a pathetic trade that was! Snider may work out, but he is still a long shot. This leaves Markakis, Matusz and Weiters as our only outstanding choices. Baseball America projects the Orioles as taking a high school pitcher with our First round draft choice next year. I pray that we won't make that mistake again. Read Moneyball.

Pete,
The Series starts on Wednesday for FOX. They don't want a game on Friday (that's a bad TV night). MLB will do whatever FOX wants as long as they pay. That's why they start late and that's why there are no day games. Remember, it is solely so MLB has enough to pay those salaries of 10-20 million a year. Not to mention the 14 million that Selig get every year. It's all about the M O N E Y!

First there was Benedict Mussina. Now comes Osama bin Loewen. What is Oriole Nation coming too?

bunch of idiots , all of you who think these guys give a damn, if it were Mark Texeira signing with the O's in the same situation because he grew up an oriole fan you would all be elated, the readers need to grow up and let Loewen play wherever he wants, he never did anything here anywayeven when he was healthy. and by the way , wouldn't all of you want to get away from the "Greek God" and his award wining organization?

Pete, it's very simple. $4 mil for 8 major league wins. He owed this organization more than a kick in the groin. It's not that he's likely to succeed. But, if he does it in another uni, he stole money for the past 6 years.

If we're unfortunate enough to have Daniel Cabrera pitching for us next year, here's to hoping Loewen appears in a spring training game against him and Daniel plants one on him. Eh.

Pete,

The word is loyalty! Ok the O's erred in giving him a major league contract, because his performance at any level didn't merit is rise to the Majors, unlike say Matt Wieters! But due to his contract he came up and was at best mediocre!

The fact that he made that compassionate plea that he would be starting his career over to an Oriole backdrop tended to send a message. While we have so few everyday minor leaguers, you would think a guy would get greater opportunities! But if the O's eggs were all in his basket we're in worse shape than I thought! God riddance! If only we could get rid of Walker, Ramon, Baez and DCab that easily!

To turning a new corner!

P.S. Is Bedard a Free Agent?

Peter,

Guess I am just cynical enough that I was not surprised to see Loewen sign elsewhere. But to me, as soon as I read that the Orioles would be terminating the current contract to get him off the 40-man, it seemed like that opened the door to some other options for him. It was a practical move that had to be made, since his prior contract required his presence on the major league roster (or whatever that deal was), and this is not a surprising result.

Don't see why anybody's blaming the guy. Maybe he even meant things that were said about signing a new minor league deal with the Orioles, but why really get worked up that he availed himself of the chance to go play for the home country team? Let's focus on some things that will actually matter in the coming season.

I wish Loewen the best. To borrow one from Douglas Adams, to Adam I say: So long and thanks for all the fish!

Much ado about nothing, Peter. Let's remember, Adam has morphed overnight from a MLB starting pitcher, (who never met expectations to begin with), into a minor league PROSPECT. Right now, he's that and nothing more.

Let's leave it to the 'Jays to invest the incredible amount of time and money it will take to develop Loewen into a any kind of position player. The Rick Ankiel's of this world are few and far between.

The Birds' minor league system has bigger, healthier, and more important fish to fry - as in Wieters and Matusz.

Forget about Loewen, here is the simple math equation for spring: Wieters = Longoria.

which of you people would not
take the chance to play for your
favorite minor league team in your
home country??? it is no big deal..