due to the nature of his injury and his inability to remain as a pitcher, loewen had the orioles' support when he made the decision to transition to a position player. his contract stipulated that he was required to remain with the big league club on its active roster at this stage in his career. as loewen would need time in the minors to learn a new position and pick up batting experience, both sides agreed on october 20, 2008 that loewen would be released from his contract. both sides had talked about re-signing him to a minor league contract though no formal agreement was ever reached. the orioles had hoped to develop loewen to play at first base but were also actively in the market to sign free agent first basemen. loewen reportedly received several offers from other teams, and signed a minor-league contract with the toronto blue jays. after attending minor-league spring training with the jays, loewen was assigned to the dunedin blue jays on april 9, 2009.