Loewen done pitching

[Hank Scorpio]

If the transformation goes reasonably well he might be the SoMd Blue Crabs first baseman of the future.

Yeah, it'd take a miracle.

[Hallas]

Yeah, it'd take a miracle.

C'mon, baseball is all about miracles.

[DrungoHazewood]

C'mon, baseball is all about miracles.

Yea, that's why the 1998-2008 O's won six pennants.

People remember the miracles because 99.99% of the time they don't happen.

[Mark Carver]

Can someone please explain what this all means?

(1) How much (years, money) was left on his current deal?

(2) It's being severed effective when?

(3) And then what? He becomes a free agent for 5 minutes, and then we sign him to a minor league contract? And he gives up the rest of the major league money that he would have gotten under the old deal? And Loewen doesn't object? And the league won't object? And the players' union won't object? :scratchchinhmm::scratchchinhmm:

His initial 4 year ML contract that he signed with the Orioles back in May 2003 is over. He's been on 1 year contracts since than and in 2008, was paid $0.813k.

So they tear up his ML contract and he signs a MiL contract, probably for the same as he would have gotten the rest of the year.

[McLovin]

Good luck to Adam, hopefully he'll have an Ainkel-type story

This is not directed at you specifically, but... People need to have some perspective. This is nowhere near Ankiels journey. By age 25, he had a combined 573 minor/major league at bats, with a fair amount of success as a regular in AA. Loewen will have ZERO at bats at the same stage in their careers. Best case, his arm doesn't fall off while swinging at a fastball and we see him as a 29 or 30 year old 'rookie' down the road... I'm not saying he can't do it, but he's not going to follow Ankiels path by any means...

[Hallas]

Yea, that's why the 1998-2008 O's won six pennants.

I haven't woken up yet, leave me be.

[furryburres]

Can't they just sign him to a new contract? Restructure/extend it, whatever?

His agent is Boras, so they'd be adding on money.

*EDIT*

Nevermind.

[Mark Carver]

No. He is out of options.

I'd say it's a very good chance (99.9%) that he'll clear waivers, since he's no longer a pitcher...

[McLovin]

He's still got some time to make it. Ankiel did it in 3 seasons, that would make Loewen roughly 27 when he would come up as a hitter. For his sake, I'm not going to mention Ankiel and Loewen in the same sentence... it's just not fair. Let him work at it, then come a season or two he may pop up somewhere in our farm system as a pretty solid hitter.

Copied from another post I made:

People need to have some perspective. This is nowhere near Ankiels journey. By age 25, Ankiel had a combined 573 minor/major league at bats, with a fair amount of success as a regular in AA. Loewen will have ZERO at bats at the same stage in their careers. Best case, his arm doesn't fall off while swinging at a fastball and we see him as a 29 or 30 year old 'rookie' down the road... I'm not saying he can't do it, but he's not going to follow Ankiels path by any means...

[Anonymous]

His initial 4 year ML contract that he signed with the Orioles back in May 2003 is over. He's been on 1 year contracts since than and in 2008, was paid $0.813k.

So they tear up his ML contract and he signs a MiL contract, probably for the same as he would have gotten the rest of the year.

Thanks, Mark. But I'm still a bit confused here. I've never seen this before. Is it because this is a unique situation in which the player AGREES to transform himself into a minor leaguer? (If so, I can understand that this would be unusual. But I can't imagine that it would be unprecedented.)

Also, when precisely would this happen? I'm wondering about 40-man roster ramifications for this Winter.

[cindyluvsbrady]

I am very sad about this:002_scry:

I love Adam!

[gallden]

He'll probably be batting left. In that case, a lot of the stress will be on his right arm. I think he'll be fine in that regard, especially since swinging is a lot less stressful than pitching.

If he indeed is batting left handed his left arm will be the top hand which will have a good bit of stress on the Ulnar collateral ligament, see Albert Pujols was going to have tommy john on his right elbow correct if I'm wrong but I think thats the arm they were looking at.

[Frobby]

What a shame for Adam. He's a bulldog and a terrific guy. Thia is really terrible for him, and a terrrible loss for the team.

He was a good hitter in high school and Juco, but the chances that he can be a major leaguer with the bat are pretty remote. I'm glad he'll get every chance to try to do it.

[paulcoates]

Hate to be the wet blanket here, but there is a decent chance that you might have just seen Loewen put on an O's jersey for the last time.

[Moose Milligan]

Wishing him lots of luck and I'm glad to see he's not giving up on his dream.

Had to roll my eyes at some of the posts in this thread, but then again they aren't totally surprising considering the sources. We should all be wishing him luck and hoping he makes it, regardless of what the chances are.