So we gave Loewen a $6 million bonus which equates to $750,000 per win in his big league career. Not a great return on the O's investment. Sorry things didn't turn out well for him and sorry to see him change his allegiances and go with the Blue Jays, but you were probably right when you said that he would be taking up space from kids that might not be as long a shot as he was to make the majors as a hitter. In 2006 when he threw four really solid starts at the Yankees late in the season, he looked like the future star we all thought he would be.

Someone is not telling the truth here. The O's front office said in releasing him that they were sure to resign him. That had to be based on some input from Loewen. So were the O's lying to the fans or was Loewen lying to the O's?

It had to be one or the other because you are saying that he clearly wanted to play for his home country. Well he didnt just become a Canadian after he was released. He knew all along he was Canadian and must have known his own feelings. So he lied to the O's or the O's lied to the fans.

I guess there is one third possibility, the O's are so inept that they never questioned him about the possibility of playing for his home country, no one thought to ask?

Thank God we don't play in the National League Central or next year we would finish in 6th place.

Hilarious! Adam is exposed as a bum. We babied this guy for 3 years, stood by him and then he stabs us in the back. Couldn't happen to a more deserving organization. Look at all the people (sponsors,radio stations,reporters,etc) that Angelos has done wrong. Karma baby. Anyway it doesn't matter. Schmuck has a better chance at Mr Olympia than Adam does of being a major league OF.

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Pete's reply: I'm not quite sure how to take that.

pete let's not forget; this guy IS canadian after all... you think that influenced him?

I'm sure he was a nice kid and all but... really...who cares? Honestly, this kid was never going to be an above average pitcher (another drafting snafu in the "old" Oriole days...). Nothing personal but good riddance. We're trying to instill a winning team & more importantly a winning mentality here in Oriole Land. We need a 1B, 2 SP's, a SS & another solid OF...the last thing we needed to worry about was some unecessary science project that we would have to *hope* would turn out well. ABC ya later Loewen...go back to the land of Moose and bad beer, we got a job to do here!

I am tired of players the O's fans and organization are loyal to continue to stab us in the back. The overwelming fan support he received and the O's rather than discarding him deciding to reinvent him a a position player. Not many organazations would bother to put in the time and resources into such a long shot. Plus can't imagine what we paid in medical bills for him. I hope he has all the success in the world at his eventual next career at Royal Farms. Or better yet how cool would it be at or watching a O's vs Jays road game to see him caught on camera as a peanut vendor. Good riddens.

Typical Orioles, and their boneheaded moves. Given the hitters that we have in our system, and Adam's past successes, he was top-20 prospect material. All of that said, I wish him the best of luck in Canada. Let's hope he doesn't come back to haunt us!

Peter,

Please assure us that you are going to hold Roch responsible and make him wear Haloti Ngata's jock.

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Pete's reply: I saw that, too. He said he'd wear it as a Halloween mask. I'll get right on it.

Turn the punk's picture to the wall! NEVER draft another punk from Canada! He deserves Cito Gaston! Just another reason to hate Canada and Canadians!

Oh yea...let's see if this "home town" logic works on Tex!

sorry peter, but i can't agree. he set the tone by forcing the Orioles to have him in the majors WAY before he should've been with that ridiculous contract the O's gave him when signing him. secondly, when he WAS here, he was never honest with them to the extent of his pain he may or may not have been having. he pitched injured, putting himself before the team. he constantly brought gasoline cans to the fire when he relieved. good riddance, and all the worst, i say.

I am not happy that I feel this way, but now that he's dissed the Orioles I hope that he never again sees the light of the major leagues. I think he owed the Orioles a chance to recover their investment in time and money after all his injuries. And I do recall that the Orioles paid him during his injuries.

I wish him the best of luck. I hope he makes it. But, dude...really?

pete let's not forget; this guy IS canadian after all... you think that influenced him?

Did you say that thinking he wants to be close to home? Or the fact he is Canadian and therefore an idiot?

Pete. Your last part sums it up perfectly. It's a free world and Loewen has chosen to move on. I'm sure there are many who will put a negative spin on this and say he 'owes' something to the Orioles. These types of comments will probably come from the same people who thought the O's were crazy for giving him a shot as a position player!
The bottom line as O's fans is that we have far more pressing issues than discussing Loewen's decision. We are heading into the off-season with more question marks than ever-such as whose going to play ss and fill out 3-4 starting spots.

I certainly will be rooting against Loewen now. The O's drafted the guy and threw a ton of cash his way. They also were willing to let him try to position himself as another Rick Ankiel, but Loewen turns his back on the organization? How's that for loyalty

I hope he enjoys his time in Dunedin, Lansing, New Hampsire or Syracuse...since those are the Blue Jays farm clubs. The last time I checked, none of those places are in Canada, and it's not like he's going to Toronto anytime soon.

By the way, the guy is from British Columbia. That's about 3000 miles from Toronto, so it's not like he's going home.

Picture this ,Pete-Loewen struggles a few months as a hitter,discovers his arm pain gone and becomes another Halliday in Toronto-and beats the O's in 2010 in a playoff at the seasons end!...Wouldn't that be the pits
Seriously,I have always resented the clause he had stipulating being in the majors before he was ready.It retarded his progress and hurt the Orioles as he lost so much while ojt-ing.Then the O's pick up allthe bills,have him working w/Crow,then in the instructional league.No ,I don't think he is such a nice kid-I think he is our typical spoiled ,selfcentered pro athlete.I'll end this before I tell you how I really feel!

Backstabbing liar. I look forward to seeing him released in a couple years by the Blue Jays. Or knocked down and then have one put right between the numbers first time he steps in against an Oriole pitcher.

Two things. This shows Loewen is an a$$. No integrity. No scruples. No sense of loyalty or apparently anything beyond himself. But, a gross miscalculation by Andy and the front office. Now we just have one more person to root against in the long line of Mussina, Ryan, et al. Hopefully the guy never makes the majors as a hitter and that's the end of it. With our luck, he'll be a perrenial 30 homer guy and we'll sign Tex who will never hit 30 again.

Um, someone needs to remind Adam that he's more likely to be a Lansing Lugnut before he's a Toronto Blue Jay. In fact, none of the Blue Jays minor league teams appear to be located in Canada.

I can't say how long it would have (if ever) taken Adam to reach the majors, but it was probably a long shot, but this is a slap in the face to the O's, as they did everything right with Adam and even though he may never play in the majors again, it's still a low blow in my book because you have to kind of feel that this just didn't happen over night.

They wanted Adam, fine, we'll take AJ from them.

Complete BS, the O's gave him everything he wanted and babied him and he went and slapped them in the face. It may not be Mussina leaving, but it still hurts.

Sign Burnett and stick it to the Jays!

I always wondered who it was that scouted Loewen for the Orioles and saw that he was the fourth-best player in that draft. It it me, or does it take 2 seconds to see that Cole Hamels (taken later in the draft) was a much better prospect? What exactly did Loewen have? Bad control and a straight fastball. I don't get it.

I think this IS a slap in the face. This guy held out until he got a major league contract, nearly going back into the draft and then because of that contract the O's had to put him in the majors before he was ready. This to me did nothing but rush his development and because he was trying to do too much he messed his arm up. I'm no doctor but if he had signed a normal minor league contract he might still be pitching. Now we agree to work with him as a hitter and he runs away?!?!?! What a loser! I'm a patient fan. I'd still like to take one more look at Cabrera for God's sake but not with this punk. To me he's worse than Heath Shuler of the Redskins.

Terrible, horrible, really bad, eh. As I said before, it is the Orioles who owo Loewen. He gave his all, including his arm. Bad move Orioles. Should have brought him in as a Jr. Executive, like he will end up some day for the Blue Jays.

You watch and see, Adam will end up being a success as a director of scouting, a minor league pitching instructor--and eventually a GM or Field Manager.

Bad move O's. Look beyond Baseball and see the players as they really are.

Hey, Schmuck: Your logic falls flat when you talk about Loewen blocking other outfield/1st base prospects. From Frederick on down, we really don't have any prospects at those spots. The cupboard's bare. The kid stabbed us in the back. I hope his arm falls off after he's been beaned. I am a big fan of schadenfreude. (And Sigmund Freud, too.)

Even though they had every intention on bringing him back, it was no surprise to see the Orioles lose Adam Loewen. The chances of him clearing waivers was nonexistent, especially considering that he is still young with lots of potential.

Speaking of the Orioles & its draft picks going up in smoke, I have the impression that most of their scouts are absolutely clueless as to what to look for in evaluating young talent. They should be looking for prospects with either solid baseball fundamentals or the eagerness to learn them; Nicky Markakis and, hopefully, Matt Wieters are good examples. Love to read your take on this matter, Pete.

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Pete's reply: I think Joe Jordan and the current configuration of the scouting department shouldn't be compared with the old guard. It appears that they have clue now. And, while we're on the subject, I don't think he has a ton of potential. I think his chances are slim.

I think everyone throwing insults at Loewen should be ashamed of themselves.

He gave his left arm to the franchise (in the literal sense), and was released with the assumption (by the Orioles, though I won't blame them for it) that there would be little interest from other teams.

As it turned out, the one team that was as willing to sign him as the Orioles was the team he rooted for all his life.

I guarantee that most, if not all, of the people declaring "Traitor!" are the same ones that believe Mark Teixeira should sign with the Orioles due to his childhood love for the Orioles.

This is one of the few times, along with the cheering of Kyle Boller's injury from a few years' back, that I am truly ashamed to be a sports fan in Baltimore.

Was there a significant difference in the salaries offered? Did we try to do it on the cheap and get burned?

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Pete's reply: I believe the Jays' offer was a little better.

Left at the alter because the Orioles don't put out.

The organization treated this kid great and then he turns on us when we want to give him a chance at a second career. We waited a year for him to sign, we gave him a ML deal, we worked through his control issues, kept him around when he was hurt.....
I hope we face him in spring training and Sarfate drills him right in his dome and ends his second chance. I wish nothing but the worst for that guy...and I haven't wished that for a former oriole since Albert Bell.

What a lame piece of commentary, Peter. You don't have to kiss his @#$% anymore now that he's leaving.

The organization was VERY kind to Loewen and he walked out on them. Releasing him was intended to be a procedural necessity...not an option to test the market. The Orioles could have been insistent on him continuing to rehab to return to the mound, but instead they were supportive of his longshot pursuit.

...and this crap about wanting to go to Canada to play for the Blue Jays...he's going to wind up in TAMPA at their single-A affiliate! I hope he ends up part of a minor league trade and gets sent to Scranton or some other hell hole.

Good riddens.

Pete, Loyalty went out the window with the advent of free agency. This is just another example of another selfish athlete that has proved nothing yet can walk away a failure and still make millions in unearned income.

I think we should could US Immigration - If he wants to play in Canada so badly - let's leave the ungrateful sucker up there.

You say I can't blame him for leaving but you are wrong. I can blame him. I understand that the Blue Jays are the team he grew up watching but after everything the Orioles did for him they deserved to at least be told the truth.

People hate Moose for leaving, but at least he told the Orioles that he would leave if he didn't get more money. Loewen said he would resign and then stabbed the O's in the back.

You say we should root for Loewen to make it. I was but not anymore. I hope he falls flat on his face. But if he ever does make it back to Camden yards I will be there to let him have it.

Pete, you missed this one.
Next time I see a comment about how this is a business and PA screwed so and so and he's making millions, blah,blah,blah... I want us all to remember this move by AL. He screwed us and the entire organization. This was as classless as they come. And Pete the tone of your "workers of the world unite" blog was completely misguided.

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Pete's reply: That's the first time today I've been accused of being some kind of commie. I don't think this is that big a deal, really. Does everybody here really think this guy is going to come back and be Josh Hamilton?

Who cares? Other than the fact that the O's invested a lot of money on him, this would be a no news situation. The guy's career is over. I mean really! He's not going to Canada! The odds are really against him making the Bluejays. He is more likely to end up in either Lansing, Dunedin or Manchester unless he truly turns into another Rick Ankiel...and when was the last time that happened?

The question is, who is really being selfish?

The guy who has the opportunity to go where he always wanted to play, or the fans who couldn't care less about his feelings?

Who is being disloyal? The guy saying all the right things on the way out and going home, or the fans willing to insult him as a player and as a person as soon at the first whiff of something they dislike?

Really, we should all be happy he is gone. He should get the opportunity to play for better fans than what we have around here.

Adam Loewen
is a complete
absolute
100 percent
no doubt about it
raging
throbbing

Schmuck.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Wow, you guys are too much. Sure he may have lived a ways from Toronto, but that doesn't change the fact that Toronto was the closest team to him, and is the only club in Canada. I bet if any of us were in the same situation and found out that the O's had interest in us we'd take it. I don't blame him one bit, and I wish him the best...as long as his best isn't against the O's.

C'mon folks. This is a business and he accepted a better offer. Is there a major league club who hasn't let a player go who had been loyal for years and wanted to stay?
Let it go, his career is almost certainly done. The O's don't really lose anything. There are much bigger fish to fry.

I don't think it's about Loewen coming back and being Hamilton, because any reasonable baseball fan realizes the slim chances of that happening. It's more about the time and money the Orioles invested in him. Even more than that, it's about the hope O's fans invested in him. To any respectable Orioles fan, Loewen was a household name.

Like you say in your blog, a year ago Orioles fans had so much tied to Loewen, and for a struggling franchise, it takes a lot to truly believe someone can help your organization. Even when he made the decision to give up pitching, every Orioles fan I know had high hopes for him. Perhaps they were misguided, but there was a certain level of trust in Loewen leading us back to the glory days.

Maybe he didn't quite understand his significance to hopelessly blind O's fans, or maybe he legitimately weighed that against being a Canadian hero, but no matter how you slice it, this feels like a stab in the back.

I have a very LOW opinion of Adam Loewen. He reminds me of the young lady who accept an invitation to a dance and then leave with someone else because they are more popular.
It shows that he is very immature and self-centered. Baltimore not only paid him millions but kept him on the DL for the last two years and wasted their hitting coaches time working with him only to have him jilted them at the first opportunity. It also shows that the Gaston and the Jays F.O. has very little class IMHO.

I don't know what's crazier - that this many people would respond to an Orioles-related blog or that this many people actually visit the Sun's website. Who knew there was still so much interest in either entity?

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Pete's reply: Either way, thanks for coming.

Sign AJ to return the favor.

Roy is right - it's business. And Loewen did not act in good faith. In the end, we will be find in the OF for years to come without Adam Loewen. Does he really project as a everyday outfielder?

If he goes back to pitching, we really have a reason to cry foul.

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Pete's reply: You know, that crossed my mind too. It's not out of the realm of possibility.

Much ado about nothing. He's starting over, trying to hit ML pitching. Good luck with that. The O's don't have the time or patience for a specialty project. In 2 to 3 years, you won't hear from him again.

Something no one has mentioned yet: this is very childish of Adam. He apparently has some growing up to do. The Orioles invested a lot of time, money and effort into the kid. He ditches us because he rooted for Toronto as a kid. Disappointing describes his career, you can't blame the guy for his arm problems. But to turn your back on an organization that gave everything it had to nurture your career because you rooted for a different team growing up is just plain childish.

Schmuck, he is not a nice kid if he made a decision like this for the reasons he has given us. At least if he had said it was more money, I could respect that. He is not a "fan" anymore, he's a professional. He is not a child anymore, he's a pro athlete with an established relationship with the O's, who gave him every opportunity to play. Adam needed to be an adult and make an adult decision, he didn't.

There is a good possibility that Toronto will give up on him before he ever gets to wear a Blue Jays uniform on the big stage. I doubt Toronto will be as loyal to him as he was to them. At least you knew the Orioles were going to keep Loewen in their system for many years, he was our top draft pick. For Toronto, he is just another minor leaguer picked up on waivers. Good luck, Adam. When Toronto releases you, go sign with a team because you like their colors, or their mascot, or some other arbitrary, non-professional reason.

Sure, it's kind of a slap in the face to the Orioles, but they'll get over it. I'm disappointed in Adam, but I'll get over it too. Let's face the facts here - he based his decision on his personal wants, rather than loyalty to his team. Loyalty to a team is pretty rare these days. Players that become free agents usually go to the team with the most money, or some other personal reason, but loyalty...that's rare!.

I'm torn. I met the guy in Frederick in May, shook his hand.....nice kid!
But i also think he owes the team something for all thier investement.
I can also see him blocking better prospects along the way......so as Paul said, Let It Be.

Pete,

I think you missed the point on this one. Baltimore has an inferiority complex started when the Colts left. Now we constantly hear about how no Free Agents want to come here and our Front Office feels like they're using "confederate money" because nobody will take it. This is just another slap in the face to the city. Loewen did owe it to Baltimore to give it a shot with the Orioles. Add to this the fact that dirtball Cito Gaston called him to convince him and you Baltimore fans that are pretty upset (Let me know if you don't know why we hate Cito). I think that you can tell by McPhail's interview that he feels snookered as well. You get the feeling that Loewen was less then truthful with him.

What an ungrateful jerk!!!! No loyalty anymore! This guy disgusts me! He should pay back all the money we gave him! PUNK!

It's entirely possible that Loewen never expected to be picked up on waivers; when his home country took him, he signed. Baseball, like any business, is a crap shoot. I just left a job after less than a year because my boss was a control freak. I don't have to give them back the money, and they don't have to send me to Cancun to get over the stress the boss caused me. But with O's luck, I expect to see Loewen DHing for the Jays within three years and develop into a superstar. Again, crying won't help, nor will bad-mouthing the dude --who would have been a topflight pitcher.

Yeah it sux that the O's get Dissed once again. But come one shouldn't we as O's fans be used to it by now. Besides its not like this guy was try'n to be an infielder. We already have a crowded outfield at the Big leauge level. Im a Die hard O's fan. I've been live'n in Tampa for the past 4 years. What the Rays have done this year gives me reason to belive it can happen to the O's... Let the extra baggage leave and lets get some young hungry guys in here that WANT to be here and that WANT to Win. Maybe the whole " I wanna play for my home team" trick will work on get'n Tex. GO O'S !

If he hits .215 in the winter league, the griping will quickly come to an end.

Pete,

I think Jeff made a very good point about Baltimore fans possibly having a complex over losing a team, and players as well. The real Colt fans have never gotten over the loss of the franchise. And just prior to the Irsay mugging we have that classless self centered idiot Elway demand a trade before he ever played a down. Then on to the O's, Reggie stiffs us to go play in the Rotten Apple, next, we loose Raffy back to the Rangers, followed by the defections of Moose & Ryan. Not to mention the FA's who never intended to sign here, Carlos Lee, Paul Konerko, Paul Byrd, or the pitcher with the Yanks (name escapes me).

Adam may be a nice kid, however, I don't think he was exactly honest about his intentions of remaining with the organization. He had to know that the O's would take him off their 40 man roster to rework his deal (a minor league deal just like he signed with the Jays). He should have at least told Andy that hey look, if another team comes calling when you release me, I am going to consider outside offers. You might not have liked the answer, but could at least respected the kid for his honesty. But in all fairness, their is no more loyalty in the work place. Adam stuck it to the O's in not giving them the chance to recoup any of their investment. They did not give this kid Confederate Dollars, and this is his way of saying thanks.

Last thought on this subject. Most of us truly believe we've seen the last of Adam in the Majors. And I'm one of those. The odds are stacked against the kid, but it's not as if the kid never possessed any offensive tools. Quite a few scouts were split on him coming out of HS as to whether his future was on the mound or in the field. I'm now in different to the kid. I'd like to see him make it, because the arm injury was not his fault, and while with the O's he was a good foot soldier. But from here on out, I'm not really concerned about Adam Lowen anymore. That ship has already sailed!