Loewen and the Jays

Upon reading today's Sun article on Adam Loewen signing with the Blue Jays, I don't think anyone can begrudge him.

I respected the kid because he was a bulldog on the mound and seemed to work hard; however, it looks like wanted for play for Toronto, simply because he is a Canadian and rooted for them growing up.

I'm sure a lot of fans and people will miss him in the organization, but he's got a hill to climb in order to transition from pitching to become a big league hitter.

"I don't think it's about money," MacPhail said. "The way it was explained to me, it's all about playing for his national team in Canada and it's not about terms or anything. The way it was explained to me is he grew up there and it's his lifelong dream to play for Toronto. I have no interest in having Baltimore become part of Canada. We're proud members of the United States, and there isn't much we can do about it."

It was assumed Loewen would re-sign with the Orioles -- until the Jays looked into getting him...

That apparently changed when Toronto came calling. Loewen said he and his representation told the Orioles there were "other offers on the table and they knew fully that there were other teams interested.

"It has been something I've been struggling with ever since I got put on waivers and the possibility presented itself," Loewen said. "[The Orioles] fully did what they had to do and I was aware of that. They did everything on their part that they could do to try to sign me back. I love playing in Baltimore and I loved the coaching staff. Even when I went to instructional league, the coaching staff was outstanding. There was no animosity at all. I just thought this was an opportunity that doesn't come along very often. It was tougher than I could say. I'm excited to be a Blue Jay, but I'll never forget my time in Baltimore."

Sports is a huge business, and no matter what we think, if Loewen struggled horribly -- he could have been released anyway. However, it looked like the Orioles were going to have him every chance in the world to succeed.

The ball was in Adam's court, but instead, he wanted to play for the Jays, and we shouldn't judge him. This move will be simply one the Orioles could afford to not get emotional about -- he was not going to help the team in 2008, 2009 or perhaps beyond.

I'll be rooting for him to make it back to the Big Leagues.

O's Make Moves; Release Adam Loewen

If you all have not heard, the Orioles made a series of moves Monday afternoon, the biggest being the release of Adam Loewen.

The Orioles conducted some offseason housekeeping on Monday when they released former first-round Draft pick Adam Loewen and outrighted five players to Triple-A Norfolk. Loewen, who has retired as a pitcher due to recurring elbow injuries, is attempting to reignite his career as a position player, and he likely will ink a Minor League contract with the team some time soon.

Loewen missed virtually all of the 2007 season with a stress fracture in his left elbow, an injury that took an operation to repair. The southpaw went through all the requisite rehabilitation, but he suffered the same injury last season and was told it would take 18 months to recover from another surgery, a realization that spurred him to try his hand at hitting.

In addition to the Loewen move, Baltimore outrighted pitchers Randor Bierd and Rocky Cherry, infielder Brando Fahey, outfielder Jeff Fiorentino and catcher Omir Santos to Norfolk. Fiorentino was lost on a waiver claim last winter and subsequently returned to the organization via the same process during the season.

Although Loewen was released, the move may just be procedural -- he may re-sign with the team in a minor league deal and try to find his way back into the majors as a hitter. He's obviously not a major league pitcher anymore; thus, it does not make any sense to pay him as if he was one. I surmise he would be exposed to waivers; however, I don't see him being picked up by anyone.

I hope Loewen makes it back to Baltimore, or anywhere in the majors. Considering his work ethic, and how many have spoke about him with such reverence, he very well could become another Rick Ankiel.

He more than likely not even see if the majors -- that's even if he makes it -- for perhaps several years and if so, does he just become a bench player or a full-time regular?

Right now, he cannot help out the Baltimore Orioles in the near future, so it is best he work on his hitting tools and learn to be a position player.

Rangers Take 2 Out of 3; Loewen On the Shelf

It was an ugly day at the Yard on Sunday.

Well, in perhaps one of the longest, frustrating, exciting, and heart-breaking nine-inning game that I have ever had to sit through, the Orioles valiantly came back from a four run deficit late; however, they narrowly missed defeating the Rangers, 11-10. The game started off ugly, and only got worse as Radhames Liz, who had managed to win a few game despite finding himself in trouble had his luck run out Sunday as he only pitched a little less than four innings.

The offense came together, but ten walks by Baltimore pitching allowed Texas to pile on the runs. Down by in the eighth, our usually reliable relievers, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill let the flood gates open, along with a huge Freddie Bynum error that only made things worse.

The Orioles used the long ball -- three in total, including a three-run shot by Nick Markakis in the 8th, and solo shots by Melvin Mora and Kevin Millar in 9th; however, Oriole Magic just came up a bit short.

About Last Night: O's Lose to Twins, Draft, Adam Loewen

The seemingly upward climb of Daniel Cabrera hit a little bump in the road as Baltimore lost to Minnesota, 7-5, last night in Minneapolis. Despite leading for much of the first half of the game, the Daniel of old returned in the fifth and sixth inning as the Twins scored four runs combined and the Orioles were left to lick their wounds. Daniel Cabrera (5-2) took the loss for the O's, allowing six runs on eight hits over six frames.

Baltimore's offense was able to knock out Kevin Slowey, the Minnesota starter, out of the game; however, they could not capitalize on a multitude of scoring opportunities. Joe Mauer homered and drove in three runs, helping Boof Bonser get a win out of the bullpen on Wednesday night.

Kevin Millar and Melvin Mora each hit solo home runs for the Orioles, who have dropped five of their last seven contests. Brian Roberts went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored, while Nick Markakis had two hits and one RBI.

***

The 2008 MLB draft is upon us, and while it is known Tim Beckham will be chosen first by the Rays, the Orioles have a number of options to choose from. It's conventional wisdom that Baltimore will go after a pitcher -- San Diego area pitcher Brian Matusz -- as their first round pick.

Unless something changes, I guess that's what may happen. I like Justin Smoak as a power option -- the Orioles sorely need it -- however, the Baltimore media is reporting it will more than likely be Matusz.

From Roch's blog: The Orioles' pick seems pretty clear unless the Kansas City Royals muck up the works and take San Diego pitcher Brian Matusz at No. 3. I'm guessing they'll take high school first baseman Eric Hosmer instead.

Hosmer is high up on the Orioles' draft board, along with Beckham, Matusz, Alvarez, South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak and Missouri pitcher Aaron Crow.

Obviously things can change, and at times, events like this may become unpredicatable, but it looks like many are set with Matusz as the first pick.

The Baltimore Sun goes through the top five players the Orioles are looking at as their first pick & Dan Connolly muses with fans as to who they want as a part of the organization; and if you want a very good rundown of the draft picks in the latter rounds, the excellent and newest blog in Oriole-land, Camden Depot may be the place to go along with Orioles Hangout to get your draft expertise. As well, the Washington post has some tidbits and insight as to what the Orioles might do this afternoon.

I would like to hop into the fray and give my thoughts, but I am a little weak in that department and I only have so many hours in the day to devote to blogging.

***

Meanwhile, O's hurler Adam Loewen should be back in June and will more than likely have him in the bullpen. This is good news, as the Orioles are set with a glutton of pitching options right now, so there's no need to throw Loewen into the Lion's Den and have him starting again. I say that Baltimore should take their time with the youngster, and let him heal, get his command back and just let him build little by little in relief.

From the Baltimore Sun: Although the club is not addressing it specifically, Loewen might rejoin the Orioles as a reliever. He has come out of the bullpen just six times in his six-season pro career and only three times in 32 big-league games.

"I think we are developing the plan for the role that Loewen will be in when he comes back, but we are going to wait and see what he does in the minor leagues on his rehab stint first," Trembley said. "[Team president] Andy MacPhail and I and [pitching coach] Rick Kranitz and Adam Loewen have discussed all the options."

Pitching out of the bullpen would help ease Loewen (0-1, 7.85 ERA in four 2008 starts) back into the majors while putting less wear on a tender left elbow that has hampered the former first-round pick for more than a year.

Needless to say, the best course of action is to have Adam just get his mojo back and have him make a go of it in 2009.

Quick Hits: The Game Last Night, Condensed Video & Adam Loewen

Well, the Orioles for one day can feel good about themselves! Anyhow, after a prolonged losing streak, the team finally hit pay dirt as Nick Markakis singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the Orioles a 3-2 a dramatic comeback victory over the Indians.

The Orioles offense was once again pretty lackluster, but things came together at the right time.

The starter for the Orioles, Erik Bedard, went 6 innings, struck out 4, and had a rough 5^th inning where he gave up a two-run homer to David Dellucci.

Bedard has been a fighter all this year on the mound, but he has given up 7 home runs already which would be a cause for concern for me; however, I gather he’ll get himself together.

Paul Byrd, starter for the Indians, pitched a valiant 6 2/3 innings, but got the no-decision.

Chad Bradford and John Parrish held the game in check for the Orioles, and Chris Ray pitched 2 innings for the win.

Nick Markakis drove in 2 runs for the Orioles, including the walk-off hit, as did Jay Payton who homered off Paul Byrd in the 3^rd inning.

The crowd left happy last night as the losing streak was halted for a day…

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a recap of the game, as does the Baltimore Examiner and the Washington Post.

***

In light of the win yesterday came some bad news.

Last night before the game, the Orioles held a press conference, and starting pitcher Adam Loewen has a stress fracture in his elbow, and will be out for up to 2 months.

To replace Adam on the roster, the O's called up reliever Todd Williams from AAA Norfolk.

It’s too bad for him obviously, as he is one of the team’s young guns and hope for the future.

Keep in mind, he’s young and should bounce back.

Team officials noted that surgery is a "potential option," but Loewen will be out at least eight weeks even if he doesn't choose to undergo a corrective procedure.

"This is definitely a step back for me," Loewen said. "It's frustrating to hear that when I worked so hard in the offseason. I thought I made huge strides, but it's not the end of the world. I'm 23, and I think the future's going to be bright."

Great attitude, Adam. I’m hoping you come back sooner rather than later.

The Orioles will be impacted in a major way due to his injury. It will be determined if his injury will a long lasting effect on the season, but we are heading into unknown.

With Jaret Wright, Kris Benson and Adam Loewen on the DL, 3/5 of the original slotted starting rotation is on the shelf, and could the season be lost?

Only time will tell.

Roch Kubatko of the Baltimore Sun has more on the Loewen injury, & Peter Schmuck believes that the Orioles will be severely impacted…

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post notes that Adam Loewen will miss most of the season now…

On that note, long reliever Brian Burres is expected to start Sunday in place of Adam Loewen.

Miguel Tejada may be one of the league leaders in batting average; his power has been slow to come...

Condensed Video:

070504 CLE @ BAL condensed
Uploaded by robiroboter

Quick Hits: The Game Yesterday with Tigers and the Rundown...

Well, after the excitement of last night and both benches being fired up, many of us were hoping for the incident with Daniel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield along with Miguel Tejada and Jeremy Bonderman to simmer into Tuesday.

It didn't.

The Orioles once again lost a game, this time one that was winnable, to the Detroit Tigers by a score of 5-4.

The game was tied 3-3 in the eighth inning, until Sean Casey, who has been struggling and missed a few games due to the flu, came up with a pinch hit single that squeaked by Melvin Mora and allowed in 2 runs.

Reliever Danys Baez came in the 8^th inning, gave up two runs, and took the loss.

Starter Adam Loewen pitched 5 innings, struck out 4, walked 2 and gave up 3 runs. However, he had to leave the game due to forearm pain.

Brian Roberts stole 3 bases in last night’s game. As well, Miguel Tejada had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs, Melvin Mora homered, and Roman Hernandez drove in a run.

Todd Jones got the save for the Tigers, and Joel Zumaya earned the win in relief.

This will mark the Orioles’ 9^th loss in 10 games, and right now things are not going good – in fact, it’s been very lackluster. It seems that the offense is still struggling in spots and the pitching really needs to get deeper in games.

Right now, the bullpen is being used way, way too much and it being only May; therefore if the trend keeps up, there might be an injury or two and cases of tired arms.

I expected the Orioles to be around .500 as they have faced teams that are perennial contenders, but after their strong start, the fall has been pretty hard.

The offense needs to wake up, and the pitching needs to be a lot more consistent.

***

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a recap of the game, and sadly Brian Roberts opined that “it seems that we find a way to lose every night”.

The Baltimore Examiner has more on the loss, as does the orioles.com.

Rick Maese touched upon a point I made earlier about the starting pitching needing to go deeper into games – he’s right. If the O’s pitching cannot go deeper into games, they will be in trouble for the season.

Peter Schmuck says it’s good that the Orioles showed some fight against the Detroit Tigers ala the Cabrera-Sheffield incident.

The Baltimore Sun asks Corey Patterson a question – this time on brawls…

Millar griped about playing time to the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore. At this point, he’s trying to patient, but considering the situation with the bench, it was to be expected (at least on my end…). There’s also a report on this very topic on the Orioles.com website.

Markakis, Loewen, & the Relationship of the Orioles and the Washington DC Area...

Wow. I caught this after surfing around the web and various forums just right now.

...Baltimore Orioles players Adam Loewen and Nick Markakis were booed when shown on the scoreboard telescreen, while D.C. United soccer star Ben Olsen drew cheers from the crowd of 16,924....

As a resident of Maryland, an Orioles as well as a Nationals fan, I certainly understand all too well the sentiments of those in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. I can attest that those in that area who dislike the Orioles don’t necessarily hate the players, but the owner, Peter Angelos. I sometimes walk through the city with a Orioles cap on and I’ll get smart remarks like “Angelos Sucks”, “Orioles Suck” or if you’re in DC or Virginia, "why do you still have Orioles stuff on ?”

For example, if you’re an O’s fan and shout “O” during the National Anthem while at RFK, you will get a lot of heat from Washingtonians.

A quick review: Peter Angelos fought tooth and nail to prevent the Montreal Expos (who became later the Washington Nationals) from moving to Washington D.C. as the team would be encroaching on his territory. MLB only moved the team to the nation’s capital for the fact there was no other viable market that could sustain a team and have a facility up and ready to play in.

As a concession for the Expos moving to into Washington D.C., MLB set up a regional sports network, MASN, for both the Orioles and Nationals, but Peter Angelos and the Oriole would own the majority of the network permanently. Also, the Orioles now could not be sold at open market for less than $365 million, almost double the amount the team was originally purchased for.

In addition, the vast majority of fans could not see the Nationals until late 2006, as MASN and Comcast, a cable provider fought over a contract over Orioles coverage in 2007 and beyond, so Comcast refused to put MASN on their cable systems.

The experience of the cable network along with the fight to get the Expos into Washington led D.C. area to resent bitterness and hatred towards Angelos along with the Baltimore Orioles. A lot of Orioles fans who lived in Maryland, D.C. and Northern Virginia became Nationals fans, as some were former Senators fans, some wanted to root for a team in their own vicinity, as well a few did because there were not satisfied with the team under ownership with Angelos.

Was it a bit crass and immature for some angry D.C. fans to rail against Nick Markakis and Adam Loewen, two young players who have nothing to do with the Orioles and their business practices? Yes, but it is America, and sports fans have the right to voice their displeasure. I can not criticize Washington area fans for their anger, because in my mind it is in a way rightly justified and sports is an emotional thing in people’s lives.

However, as I look at things from Angelos’ view and in a corporate sense, the moves he made were smart and in a way, he needed to protect his investment. Now, I am not agreeing in the way he conducted himself, but a lot of what did made sense and with his skills as a lawyer, he surely did benefit greatly from the Expos moving into the Mid-Atlantic region although the Orioles have not been competitive and attendance has dropped greatly.

In the end though, it comes back to Markakis and Loewen were sadly the target of the ire of Peter Angelos. Did they deserve it – no; but nevertheless, the incident is representative of what the Orioles face in Washington D.C.