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Adam Loewen takes the money and runs
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Loewen says, "Check out my new haircut!"
Canadian-born pitcher Adam Loewen signed a major league contract as the Orioles' first-round draft pick in 2002. Because he signed a major league deal (at his agent's insistence), Loewen was rushed through the minors.
One in 4 Million
He cost the team four million dollars, which is an awful lot for a player with no professional track record. Loewen debuted with Baltimore in 2006. He suffered season-ending injuries early in 2007 and again in 2008. Following his latest boo-boo, Loewen, with the club’s support, announced plans to return to being a hitter rather than a pitcher.
There were two problems with this idea: 1) Loewen’s major league contract, which stipulates that he must play with the big league club at this stage of his career, coupled with 2) the fact that he hasn’t hit in six years.
“No problem,” said the O’s front office. They agreed to give him a lot of attention in the instructional league. Both Loewen and the club acknowledged that the odds were stacked against Loewen the Hitter, and that he would have to spend a lot of time and effort in the minors if he were to be the next Rick Ankiel.
Gentlemen’s Agreement
To solve these problems, the easiest thing to do was release Loewen from his major league contract so that he could sign a minor league deal with the club that drafted him and paid him $4 mil. Both sides shook hands, and that was it.
Except that it wasn’t. Though Loewen told the birds he would stay, and though he had already spent a lot of time in the cages with Orioles’ hitting instructors, Loewen took advantage of his newfound free agency.
Loewen signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, which came as a big surprise to those in and around the Orioles’ organization.
The Burden of Access
The Sun’s Peter Schmuck says that Loewen is a “a nice kid and he's been through a lot.” David Steele, also of the Sun, took a turn away from his typically self-assured writing to wonder what the Loewen move says about the organization. Steele, not usually one to mince words, was more willing to condem the Orioles than Loewen’s character.
Before Loewen’s signing with the Jays, MASN’s Roch Kubatko was so sure Loewen would re-sign with the O’s he offered to quit writing for MASN and take a job as Adam “Pacman” Jones’ bodyguard if Loewen went back on his word. Such was Roch’s confidence in the young man’s promise. Let’s hope Pacman likes his new bodyguard more than his last one.
All signs indicate that Loewen’s signing with the Jays was a major surprise. The O’s invested a lot of money in him as a pitcher and got no return. Then they promised him an opportunity as a hitter, but he reneged on his gentleman’s deal to sign with the team he rooted for as a kid.
Most of us don’t have the access that Schmuck, Steele, and Roch have, so we don’t have to feel torn about this development. We’ve never seen Adam Loewen help an old lady across the street. We’ve never had lunch with him and discovered that we have the same songs on our Ipods. We’ve never talked hockey with him between side sessions.
The Bottom Line
For most of us, it’s simple: Adam Loewen is an overpaid, underachieving, glass-armed, floppy-haired jerk. Let’s hope he never takes a major league at-bat.
In the context of the last decade or so, David Steele’s article contains a kernel of truth. This would never happen to an organization like the Yankees or the Red Sox, and even if it did, no one would consider it a referendum on the team.
Loewen’s decision is much like Kris Benson’s decision to show up before the 2007 season and tell the team that he would have to sit out the last year of his contract. In both instances, an organization of better repute would not have been treated so poorly.
Benson pulled his stunt before Andy MacPhail took over the organization. He was jumping from a sinking ship. By most accounts, MacPhail has got this thing turned around. It will be a long time before the team is good again, but it will be a cold day in Hell before Loewen becomes an MLB stud.
In the end Loewen, like Benson, is just an overprivileged, money-grubbing bust.
To summarize the last week or so:
Thumbs down to Philadelphia, stinky, ugly town
Thumbs down to Kevin Millar, chubby Red Sox cheerleader
Thumbs up to Brandon Fahey, skinny utility guy
Thumbs up to Chad Bradford, sidewinder
Thumbs down to Adam Loewen, turncoat
For more info: Check back soon for a World Series report.
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