TORONTO -- The Blue Jays are giving Adam Loewen a chance to continue his transformation from pitcher to position player. On Friday, Toronto signed the former first-round pick to a Minor League contract.

Loewen, who is coming off consecutive injury-plagued seasons with the Orioles, is attempting to successfully move from the mound to either first base or the outfield. Toronto was able to sign the former pitcher after Baltimore released Loewen on Monday and he subsequently cleared waivers.

For Loewen -- a native of Surrey, British Columbia -- the decision to sign with Toronto was an easy one.

"The fact that I grew up watching the Blue Jays," Loewen said, "and was a huge fan all my life, and the fact that I'm Canadian, that played a big part of it."

The next step for Loewen is to head to Hawaii to take part in winter ball to begin his journey to the batter's box. The 24-year-old Loewen has been told that it will take roughly 1,000 professional at-bats before he can potentially be deemed ready for the Major Leagues. That being the case, his contract with Toronto is for two years.

"They said they saw me as an everyday player at the big league level," said Loewen, who spent a month in the tinstructional league with the Orioles at the end of this past season. "That really appealed to me. ... They see me in the big leagues at the end of that two-year contract, if everything goes well."

Two seasons ago, Loewen underwent surgery to insert a pin in his left elbow to stabilize a stress fracture in the joint. This past season, Loewen experienced the same injury again, but decided that his best path back to the baseball field was to abandon pitching, possibly avoiding the need for another operation.

"I really did have the passion to move forward," Loewen said. "Everything became a little bit clearer to me, what I had to do."

Loewen was selected by Baltimore with the fourth overall pick in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft. Over the past three seasons with the Orioles, Loewen went 8-8 with a 5.38 ERA in 35 appearances, including 29 starts. Last season, Loewen was 0-2 with an 8.02 ERA in seven games.

It's been six years since the 24-year-old Loewen swung a bat regularly, though he did hit at a .353 clip in his lone season at Chipola Junior College. Loewen's decision is following in the footsteps of Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, who made a smooth transition to the field after elbow issues ended his pitching career in 2005.

Given how his elbow has responded since moving away from pitching, Loewen is confident going forward.

"I know for a fact that it'll be able to hold up in the outfield or the infield," Loewen said. "It's crazy to think that my pitching career could end, and a month later I'd be playing a position with no pain. To me, that's a sign from God that I'm where I needed to be."

Also on Monday, the Blue Jays clamed right-hander Bryan Bullington off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. Last season, the 28-year-old Bullington -- the first overall pick by the Pirates in the '02 Draft -- went 5-9 with a 5.20 ERA in 25 games between stints with Triple-A Buffalo (Cleveland) and Triple-A Indianapolis (Pirates).

In order to clear room on the 40-man roster for Bullington, the Blue Jays designated outfielder Kevin Mench for assignment.