Yes, this is an ex-1st rounder, but it was as a pitcher, not an outfielder. Loewen only had one problem as a pitcher: control. He actually pitched in 35 major league games, but his stats were scary: 5.38, 1.64, 164-IP, 134-K, 106-BB.
The good news... 17 of those home runs were in 2011 for the Toronto AAA-Las Vegas team.
You know I started keeping prospect lists. Let's look at the most recent Toronto one:
10-31-11: - http://www.mlbprospectportal.com/2011/10/toronto-blue-jays-top-10-prospects-for.html
1. C Travis d'Arnaud
2. OF Anthony Gose
3. RHP Deck McGuire
4. OF Jake Marisnick
5. SS Adeiny Hechavarria
6. LHP Daniel Norris
7. LHP Justin Nicolino
8. RHP Noah Syndergaard
9. RHP Drew Hutchison
10. RHP Aaron Sanchez
John Sickles listed the top 24 prospects going into the 2011 season and Loewen wasn't on it.
Okay, so the Mets didn't steal a prospect here.
Canada's National Post wrote on 11-3-11:
Faced with a glut of outfielders in their system, the Toronto Blue Jays have parted company with Canadian prospect Adam Loewen. The Vancouver native became a six-year minor-league free agent when Toronto dropped him from its 40-man roster Wednesday. Loewen is free to sign with any team. A former first-round draft pick for Baltimore, Loewen started over in the outfield after injuries cut short a promising pitching career. He hit .306 with 17 homers and 85 RBIs in Triple-A last season, then batted .188 in 14 games with the Jays. With Eric Thames and Travis Snider ahead of Loewen in the left-field competition, Rajai Davis ensconced as the fourth outfielder and a bevy of outfield prospects at Triple-A, the Jays lack a spot for Loewen at the moment, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. The Jays might re-sign him before spring training if a job opens up, the GM added, but chose to cut him loose now to give him the best chance to earn a big-league spot elsewhere. John Lott, National Post
What I was curious about was his fielding percentage (some doofus online said he could be a backup center fielder).
Well, he played 96 games last year in right field and had a .965-F%. He also played 16 games in center and went: .925. I'd rather Duda play center.
Oh yeah... he also played 19 games on first, but doesn't every Met?
(why did my font change?)
So, what does this do to the outfield situation? Well, first of all, we are talking about a Queens starting outfield of Jason Bay, Angel Pagan, and Lucas Duda. God help me if there is an injury.
The Mets will be looking to determine in ST who can back-up Pagan in center, and spot-platoon with Duda (LHH) in right. Loewen can run in center field during warm up, but that's about it. He's also a lefty (6-6) so there's no chance for a Duda platoon here (RHHers in the mix include Juan Lagares, Josh Satin, Mike Baxter... whew).
Buffalo current looks like: Kirk Nieuwenhuis (100%?), Lagares, Fernando Martinez (a pitch away from the DL), Raul Reyes, Vinnie Ravioli (probably the backup catcher to Thole), and Loewen.
My guess here...
1. There will be more outfielders invited to camp.
2. Lagarus has an outside chance of making Queens out or camp and, if not, will be one of the starters in Buffalo.
3. Captain Kirk may not be ready on opening day, opening a starting slot for Loewen.
4. I don't expect the Mets signing anymore catchers, so Vinnie Linquini will backup Thole and also get some reps in the outfield.
5. The wild card here continues to be F-Mart who could be on the disabled list before I post this.
6. Did I tell you that there will be more outfielders invited to camp?
Faced with a glut of outfielders in their system, the Toronto Blue Jays have parted company with Canadian prospect Adam Loewen. The Vancouver native became a six-year minor-league free agent when Toronto dropped him from its 40-man roster Wednesday. Loewen is free to sign with any team. A former first-round draft pick for Baltimore, Loewen started over in the outfield after injuries cut short a promising pitching career. He hit .306 with 17 homers and 85 RBIs in Triple-A last season, then batted .188 in 14 games with the Jays. With Eric Thames and Travis Snider ahead of Loewen in the left-field competition, Rajai Davis ensconced as the fourth outfielder and a bevy of outfield prospects at Triple-A, the Jays lack a spot for Loewen at the moment, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. The Jays might re-sign him before spring training if a job opens up, the GM added, but chose to cut him loose now to give him the best chance to earn a big-league spot elsewhere. John Lott, National Post
What I was curious about was his fielding percentage (some doofus online said he could be a backup center fielder).
Well, he played 96 games last year in right field and had a .965-F%. He also played 16 games in center and went: .925. I'd rather Duda play center.
Oh yeah... he also played 19 games on first, but doesn't every Met?
(why did my font change?)
So, what does this do to the outfield situation? Well, first of all, we are talking about a Queens starting outfield of Jason Bay, Angel Pagan, and Lucas Duda. God help me if there is an injury.
The Mets will be looking to determine in ST who can back-up Pagan in center, and spot-platoon with Duda (LHH) in right. Loewen can run in center field during warm up, but that's about it. He's also a lefty (6-6) so there's no chance for a Duda platoon here (RHHers in the mix include Juan Lagares, Josh Satin, Mike Baxter... whew).
Buffalo current looks like: Kirk Nieuwenhuis (100%?), Lagares, Fernando Martinez (a pitch away from the DL), Raul Reyes, Vinnie Ravioli (probably the backup catcher to Thole), and Loewen.
My guess here...
1. There will be more outfielders invited to camp.
2. Lagarus has an outside chance of making Queens out or camp and, if not, will be one of the starters in Buffalo.
3. Captain Kirk may not be ready on opening day, opening a starting slot for Loewen.
4. I don't expect the Mets signing anymore catchers, so Vinnie Linquini will backup Thole and also get some reps in the outfield.
5. The wild card here continues to be F-Mart who could be on the disabled list before I post this.
6. Did I tell you that there will be more outfielders invited to camp?
2 comments:
What's a Vinnie Ravioli???? Isn't he on Piazza's Italian national team with his team mate Vinnie Linguini?
no... that's Joey Bag O' Donuts
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