Losing Loewen?

[Migrant Redbird]

Ok, but what if we're not talking $1000, what if we're talking $100,000 or $1,000,000.

Not necessarily. We don't know that the Blue Jays will pay Loewen more than the O's. They might have even offered him less, although I doubt it.

If we're to believe Adam, after he's broken his word on the agreement, he went with Toronto because of his emotional ties to the Canadian team.

Actually, I do believe him. I would have loved to play for the Cardinals if I'd had that kind of talent. I'd have been heartbroken if I'd been drafted to play for one of the teams that I despised, although I'm sure that the money and opportunity would have compensated.

You said your word is worth more than that, which implies there is a price to it.

Not really. It should be priceless. Since I haven't been tempted by a few million dollars, I don't really know how strong my convictions would be in the face of really strong temptation. I could have told you that my word is worth more than a million, or worth everything, but all that I've actually proven is that it was worth more than a thousand bucks in this particular case.

If a store clerk makes a mistake in my favor, I always point it out to them. You'd be surprised at how many clerks are ungracious when you suggest to them that they've made a mistake!

I still get a chuckle when I recall a time that while I was in college and working at a gas station. A kid gave me money for some candy and, just a split second after I dropped it into his hand, I realized that I'd given him incorrect change -- more than he was entitled to. The kid realized it as quickly as I did and took off like a shot, before I had an opportunity to say anything to him and collect the mistake back. It's funny, but it's also sad, that a kid grows up willing to sell his integrity for a few cents!

That is not a slam, my word would have a price as well.

I like to think that mine doesn't, but my integrity hasn't been challenged by anything approaching a real fortune. I don't have that many virtues, but I try to avoid claiming those which haven't been tested.

[BaltimoreTerp]

No one can say with a 100% certainty, but it's HEAVILY speculated that a handshake agreement was in place. IF (I can't emphasis that enough) that's the case, you're not bothered at all by Loewen's actions?

I'm not going to speculate since I don't have the information to formulate a valid opinion on the matter.

[24fps]

I'm trying to generate some moral outrage here (lord knows it was easy enough last year over Millar, Huff et.al). Sadly, I'm coming up empty. If I was Loewen's age and had the talent to play at the ML level, I would sacrifice a great deal to be an Oriole. I totally get his desire to take his shot with his boyhood favorite team, and on that basis I wish him the best of luck.

I'm not so naive as to think there might have been some business considerations involved, but frankly I don't care overly much. It wasn't too long ago that several informed posters here were (correctly IMO) pointing out that Loewen's chances as a hitter lay somewhere between slim and none.

Loewen was looking at a career as a pitcher that could have netted him $100 million plus over the next 10-15 years and maybe a couple of sentences in the record books. Now he's looking at 100-1 odds to ever make a dime at the ML level as a hitter.

I don't want those posters who have defended the need for someone to honor his word even in the face of adversity to think that I'm suggesting that's not a worthy position. It very much is. I will suggest that sometimes the charitable point of view is more appropriate.

A year from now, I expect to think of Adam about as often as I think about John Maine, or John Bale, or Eric Byrnes. There is more to gain by looking to the future that dwelling on the past. Certainly in this case. I intend to spend more time thinking about Wieters, Tillman, Arrieta and the rest at this point.

Apologies if the sentiments expressed here are redundant, I don't have the energy to wade through all the various posts.

[Pedro Cerrano]

What does Burnett have to do with it? He already let it be known he was opting out and would become a free agent. We were going to bid on him in any event, or we weren't. What are we going to do now, make sure we outbid the Blue Jays just to spite them? He either makes sense for us or he doesn't, and the fact that the Jays grabbed Loewen shouldn't influence that judgment one iota.

But while we're on the subject, I didn't hear anyone here complaining about the fact that Burnett was opting out of his deal and was interested in comng to play in Baltimore because his family lives here. The Jays paid him a lot of money the last three years, including a significant amount in yers in which he was injured a good bit of the time. Why is nobody here morally outraged at Burnett's decision?

Frobby, I respect you as a poster but come on. Comparing the Loewen situation to the Burnett situation is literally like comparing apples to oranges.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I'm trying to generate some moral outrage here (lord knows it was easy enough last year over Millar, Huff et.al). Sadly, I'm coming up empty. If I was Loewen's age and had the talent to play at the ML level, I would sacrifice a great deal to be an Oriole. I totally get his desire to take his shot with his boyhood favorite team, and on that basis I wish him the best of luck.

I'm not so naive as to think there might have been some business considerations involved, but frankly I don't care overly much. It wasn't too long ago that several informed posters here were (correctly IMO) pointing out that Loewen's chances as a hitter lay somewhere between slim and none.

Loewen was looking at a career as a pitcher that could have netted him $100 million plus over the next 10-15 years and maybe a couple of sentences in the record books. Now he's looking at 100-1 odds to ever make a dime at the ML level as a hitter.

I don't want those posters who have defended the need for someone to honor his word even in the face of adversity to think that I'm suggesting that's not a worthy position. It very much is. I will suggest that sometimes the charitable point of view is more appropriate.

A year from now, I expect to think of Adam about as often as I think about John Maine, or John Bale, or Eric Byrnes. There is more to gain by looking to the future that dwelling on the past. Certainly in this case. I intend to spend more time thinking about Wieters, Tillman, Arrieta and the rest at this point.

Apologies if the sentiments expressed here are redundant, I don't have the energy to wade through all the various posts.

Great post. I hope everyone reads it.

[JTrea81]

I'm not going to speculate since I don't have the information to formulate a valid opinion on the matter.

An opinon doesn't have to be valid in anybody's eyes for it to be an opinion. There's no reason to put down people's idea's that Loewen is a traitor. It's their opinion. Frankly I can see why he did it, because more than likely if he wanted to play for the Blue Jays, this was his best shot ever because he may never make it out of the minor leagues. But I can see why people including the Orioles are ticked, because he went against a verbal deal with some help from the Jays actively recruiting him.

There are unwritten rules in baseball, and Loewen and the Jays just broke a bunch, so people are understandably going to be upset. But you don't need to invalidate their opinion just because they are venting.

[ChaosLex]

I'm not going to speculate since I don't have the information to formulate a valid opinion on the matter.

Fair enough.

Personally, if a handshake agreement was in place, I'd think Loewen's actions are EXTREMELY lowclass. But hey, to each their own.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Great post. I hope everyone reads it.

Shocker you think that everything in the FO is fine and dandy and that all the stuff that went down today is just fine. What's next? Will you post that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow? Save it.

[ledzepp8]

I'm not going to speculate since I don't have the information to formulate a valid opinion on the matter.

Well I mean you could use some common sense. Do you really think the Orioles would have made strides in switching Adam to a hitter, sent him to an instructional league and saved him a roster spot in the Winter League if they didn't have some kind of assurances/promises from him? Look it's ultimately his choice to sign with whom ever he wants, but his character does take a hit on this. I think it's obvious that he had an agreement with the Orioles and he backed out on it.

[JTrea81]

Shocker you think that everything in the FO is fine and dandy and that all the stuff that went down today is just fine. What's next? Will you post that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow? Save it.

Man I could have sworn that BTerp wasn't drinking the Kool-Aid anymore. Guess I see he's just made himself a gallon for the offseason...

At least things are getting back to normal around here...

[BaltimoreTerp]

Shocker you think that everything in the FO is fine and dandy and that all the stuff that went down today is just fine. What's next? Will you post that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow? Save it.

Aww...you can't prove that I'm wrong, so you have to go personal. That's so darn cute. I was the same way in the third grade.

*pinches Pedro's cheek*

[bandy75]

Not necessarily. We don't know that the Blue Jays will pay Loewen more than the O's. They might have even offered him less, although I doubt it.

If we're to believe Adam, after he's broken his word on the agreement, he went with Toronto because of his emotional ties to the Canadian team.

Actually, I do believe him. I would have loved to play for the Cardinals if I'd had that kind of talent. I'd have been heartbroken if I'd been drafted to play for one of the teams that I despised, although I'm sure that the money and opportunity would have compensated.

My point about the $100,00 or $1,000,000 was not in reference to Adam's situation, just in reference to people's prices in general. If I had a verbal agreement with someone and then found a deal elsewhere which would yield me an additional $100,000 I would do it. Does that make me a bad person? perhaps, but that is a large amount of money for me. To quote Ted Dibiase " Everybody's got a price!"

I believe if there was an agreement in place then perhaps Adam's price was the opportunity to play for the Jays. Just as you said, you would have loved to play for the Cardinals, maybe Adam would love to play for the Jays. If he has a price and that is it, that doesn't make him a traitor, or classless, it makes him human.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Fair enough.

Personally, if a handshake agreement was in place, I'd think Loewen's actions are EXTREMELY lowclass. But hey, to each their own.

That's fine. I'm willing to wait for the evidence first before calling out someone, though.

If it turns out that there was nothing wrong with what Loewen did, then there are going to be a lot of people with a lot of explaining to do.

[Enjoy Terror]

If a store clerk makes a mistake in my favor, I always point it out to them. You'd be surprised at how many clerks are ungracious when you suggest to them that they've made a mistake!

This somewhat off topic, but I work in the unclaimed property department of a life insurance firm in Baltimore. If we issue a check to a person, and the address we have on file is not correct and the check goes uncashed, after six months it gets moved into my department. We have a database that has the birthdates, social security numbers and every address a person has lived at in their life for every person in the United States. Basically, I can find you given very little information about yourself.

I've been doing this for about a year now, and most people when I tell them what I do, they say "Awesome, you must get a lot of excited people when you tell them have money they didn't know about."

You would be dead wrong if you thought that. 95% of the people I contact about their unclaimed money are pissed off because I didn't call them sooner and they actually criticize me. Like I'm the bad guy.

People are really interesting sometimes, and Loewen's decision doesn't really shock me as much as it probably does a lot of other people.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Aww...you can't prove that I'm wrong, so you have to go personal. That's so darn cute. I was the same way in the third grade.

*pinches Pedro's cheek*

Lol, what a joke. You continue to think that everything that happened today was fine. That everything was ok. In the 4+ years I've been posting here you've followed the same pattern.

1) You make a post defending a bone-headed Orioles' move.

2) People call you out.

3) Rather than defend yourself you make idiotic posts like the one I've quoted.

Nobody is fooled by you, you continue to give your tours at Oriole Park. And while you're at it, be sure to show all the tour-goers Loewen's former locker. Then go ahead and explain why Loewen is no longer with the team and why it's ok that he left us. They'll all laugh at you too! Only this time it will be in live person and not behind a computer screen. I'm sure at that point you'll have much less to say.