Per Yahoo Sports , upon his return from the DL Adam Loewen will pitch in the bullpen for the rest of the season.  Reason cited? Because of his injury history, it'll be easier to monitor him from the bullpen. Whatever the reason, I say bravo.

Adam has never consistently shown that he belongs in the big leagues, and yet here he is his thanks to the ridiculous major league contract he signed. By placing him in the bullpen, the O's have given Adam a great opportunity to prove himself. Because, let's face it, he never has. He's been over-hyped and under-proven for years now. Best case scenario, he gets his act together for the rest of the season and starts in 2009 with confidence and with a few successful innings under his belt. Mid-case scenario, he proves effective in a relief role. Worst case...well, we know the worst case.

An added benefit of Loewen going to the 'pen is that this marks the inevitable release of one Steve "The Trashman" Trachsel. I see no way around it. And that, my friends, can only be considered good news.

So that leaves us with a rotation of Guthrie, Cabrera, Olson, Burres, and Liz, with a contingency plan of Albers swapping places with any of the last three should the need arise. I've heard rumblings that Jim Johnson might get moved to the rotation, but given his great success as a reliever I hope that doesn't happen.

Given the overall talent of our team, the pitching so far this year has been a real bright spot. Hopefully Adam will excel in his new role and give us even more hope for the future.