Thanks for nothing, jackass.

POINTLESS RAGE!

ALL CAPITAL LETTERS MEANS IT'S IMPORTANT NEWS!

OR TOLAXOR IS TALKING...

Will switches between field positions and pitching (and vice versa) become more common? Rick Ankiel and Carlos Marmol would be the poster children for attempting to save your career this way.

Going from hitting to pitching, especially in the minors, has never been that uncommon I do not think.

It is when it goes the other way that it is note-worthy.

This should at least shut up the local media a bit about the lack of CanCon in the organization, so nice PR move. If he follows the Ankiel career path, bonus.

Classless move by Loewen.

Yeah. It just disgusts me how he signed with the Jays after the Orioles waived him. And the way he noted that "It was a really difficult decision because I had been an Oriole all my life and that's all I ever knew, but at the same time it was exciting for a chance to play in my home country and the team I rooted for all my life" was just a slap in the face to the Oriole way.

Am I missing the sarcasm, or is there some issue with Loewen and the Orioles that I'm not aware of?

I think the issue is that by suffering repeated stress fractures, he premeditatedly betrayed the faith of all the fans who drafted him fourth overall and gave him their unconditional support.

Short version of the story:

-Loewen holds out after being drafted and Orioles eventually cave in to his demands for a major league contract. He collects a $3.2MM bonus.
-Loewen doesn't progress as quickly as expected, but he runs out of options because of the major league contract. He is rushed to the majors.
-Loewen suffers repeated arm injuries and decides he doesn't want to go through another rehab.
-Orioles support Loewen's decision to try hitting, but they can't option him to the minors because of contract situation.
-Loewen agrees to be released and re-sign on a minor league contract to get around contract situation. This isn't legally binding because it would violate the CBA.
-Orioles send Loewen to instructional league in August. After the regular season ends, the Orioles send their major league hitting coach to the instructional league to work with him. The Orioles also reserve a spot in the Hawaiian Winter League for Loewen so he can get as many at-bats as possible.
-Loewen is released, per his gentleman's agreement with the Orioles, and he signs with Blue Jays shortly afterwards.

Ah. That explains a lot. It reminds me a lot of the Leiter situation with the Jays, where they stuck by him for years through his assorted injuries until he finally has a good season, and then he signs with Florida before even letting the Jays make a counter offer like he said he would.

In that case, I can understand the bitterness.

Loewen and Bullington? Is there some fire sale on failed pitching prospects Riccardi attended?

Not a bad move by JP to get two 1st round picks for pretty much nothing. Even if they have both been busts so far, the Jays really have nothing to lose. Sorry to hear Loewen was such a jerk to the Orioles though. It makes it tough to really root for him.

It doesn't sound like he was a major jerk. Tell me if I am reading this correctly:

Loewen was paid about $800,000 last year. The CBA says that the Orioles could not offer him a contract of less than 80% the previous value, which is 600k plus. This guaranteed amount also ensured that no team would claim him off waivers. Which means that post #9 is incorrect when it says "they can't option him to the minors because of contract situation." They could have easily. (Also the second bullet point is incorrect - Loewen was in an option year in 2006 when he was promoted).

The only reason the Orioles released him was in order to save money and to clear an additional space on the 40 man roster.

This is a slightly different story, even if the Orioles were being extremely encouraging and respectful otherwise. A $550k paycut isn't insignificant. The Blue Jays were his childhood team - I can't blame the guy for signing with them. At the least, I can't feel sorry for the Orioles. Exposing Loewen to other teams was the cost of the pay reduction.

They couldn't option him, PF, because he was out of options. They could outright him off the roster, sure, but the second time they do that he's allowed to opt for FA, so it really only buys them one year.

Also, why do people keep claiming Bullington? He just doesn't have major league stuff, and with the exception of a couple of months in his last year of college, he never did.

The only reason the Orioles released him was in order to save money and to clear an additional space on the 40 man roster.

That's correct, Loewen was definitely out of options, but the Orioles could have kept him on the 40-man and tried to pass him through waivers every spring.

I'm not sure if the Orioles considered Loewen enough of a hitting talent to do that, but when Loewen agreed to become a free agent and re-sign on a minor league deal, that made the decision easy for the Orioles. The Cardinals did exactly the same thing with Rick Ankiel.

My problem with Loewen is that he reneged on his side of the deal.

Why not claim Bullington? It doesn't cost anything of note. He was the #1 overall pick just six years ago. People around here are always saying that they don't mind that their team did something on the ML level just as a show for casual fans, assuming it doesn't really cost anything or block someone. Well, here's something that doesn't even do that much. Surely a few people will hear "The Jays got the guy who was the #1 draft pick a few years ago, for free!" and get excited. Those people aren't the type to think about the fact that baseball drafts aren't like NBA or NFL drafts and even if they were, the fact that he was available in this manner probably says something. Outside of any actual baseball/talent value, this is truly a move that might have a benefit and has no possible downside. Arbitrage!

(EDIT) My "Constructing Financial Derivatives" professor would be mad at me if I didn't point out that yes, I do remember that "possible gain with no possible loss" is not technically an arbitrage opportunity.

The Blue Jays did the same thing with Clint Johnston a few years back. Johnston never got higher than AA with the Jays, but it was worth a shot.

My problem with Loewen is that he reneged on his side of the deal.

Depends how the "deal" was presented to him. Was it "we would rather you keep on trying to pitch, even though your arm keeps exploding, but if you'd rather hit we'll let you - but you need some minor league experience. Agree to resign with us and we'll let you not pitch despite all the bonus money." Or was it "Your arm's obviously toast. We don't want to pay you a major league salary to learn to hit. Will you resign with us as a minor leaguer?" If the latter, then the Orioles weren't really offering him anything, and I don't blame him for looking around and taking an offer he prefers. If the former, then yes, he was ungrateful.

I tend to doubt that there was any realistic chance of him both staying healthy and effective as a pitcher, so I would doubt that most teams would really rather he kept trying to pitch with a major league salary. The O's of course might have disagreed.

Akr, I don't think it matters. Of course it's easy to say that from the sidelines, but if you give you word you keep it. If the thurst of the situation is as DK posted then I see no reason to think Lowen has acted immorally, at least in my opinion which is worth less than a cup of coffee.

Bullington and Loewen? Sure, Kurt Ainsworth would listen if JP called.

If the thurst of the situation is as DK posted then I see no reason to think Lowen has acted immorally, at least in my opinion which is worth less than a cup of coffee.

But will that coffee cure thurst?

Interesting. I had never heard any of that controversy over Loewen's relationship with the Orioles before. I would be annoyed too that he left as soon as he had been rehabbed.

Certainly this part of the timeline is distorted:

-Loewen suffers repeated arm injuries and decides he doesn't want to go through another rehab.

More like, "and doctors tell him he'll never pitch again." And if he did, it would be two years away.

<Barack Obama>That's not true.</Barack Obama>

Loewen, who had surgery to repair a stress fracture last summer and experienced the same injury all over again this season, has consulted with team physician Jon Wilckens and noted orthopedic specialist James Andrews on the best path of recovery, and he said Saturday that coming back as a hitter could help him avoid another operation entirely.

"They believe that the only reason that my arm feels the way it does is strictly from throwing off the mound at a high intensity," he said. "So if I was playing first base or outfield or just having time in between throws, not throwing 90-93 off a mound, then my arm's going to be fine. It's not going to bother me swinging the bat, and I won't have to have surgery.

"If I did choose the other path of pitching, it would be a long road with no clear ending, so this is not a simple decision, but it's right there in front of me and it was easy to make for me."