The Blue Jays have signed first baseman/outfielder Luke Scott to a minor league contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The Page Odle/PSI Sports Management client will report to Triple-A tomorrow, he adds.
Scott, 36, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since a 2013 stint with the Rays. He spent part of the 2014 season playing with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization, slashing an impressive .267/.392/.505 with six homers in 33 games. He opened the season in the Mexican League, enjoying similar success with a .292/.400/.519 batting line and seven bombs in 28 games.
At his best, Scott would offer plus left-handed power and a keen eye that resulted in healthy walk rates. He’s a career .258/.340/.481 hitter in 3193 big league plate appearances, with his most impressive work coming from 2006-10 with the Astros and Orioles, when he posted a 126 OPS+, indicating that he was 26 percent better than a league-average hitter after accounting for park factors.
Scott was never known for his defense, but both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved give him slightly positive marks for his career work in left field. Of course, it seems doubtful that he’d still be capable of playing an average or better corner outfield. Even in his 2013 stint with Tampa, he logged just 21 innings in the outfield, and he hasn’t seen any significant Major League time there since 2011 with Baltimore. Presumably, Scott will hope to slug his way to the big league roster and stick as a bench bat, or part-time DH/first baseman. It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where he hits well enough to challenge Justin Smoak for his spot on the roster.
Buffalo hasn’t been scoring much runs lately with the Jays calling up all their players, it’s a depth move caused by the Jays contractual obligation with the Bisons to make them remain competitive.
Have said this many times, on many blogs and in many conversations with fans and people over the years at ballparks.. It makes no sense to have AAAA retreads on rosters of MiLB teams, or more than 2-4 at most as emergency callups. Minor leagues are for developing young talent, not prolonging finished careers of people exactly like Scott and several hundred others who are still around AA and AAA rosters.
There is a finite amount of talent around baseball. Retreads are better than most minor league players. If you think Luke Scott can potentially contribute to the big league team more than your in-house options, then you should probably get him at bats in the highest level of the minor leagues.
False. Just ask the Mets how treating your affiliates like an afterthought works out. That’s why their AAA team is now in Nevada (and my Jays the benefactor in that transaction). You need to maintain a good relationship with your affiliates, and that includes giving them the resources to win, as they are their own business as well. You can’t just look at this in a vacuum. This is also why Syracuse bolted as Toronto’s AAA affiliate after a 30 year relationship. And Toronto doesn’t want to screw up a perfect marriage with Buffalo.
That’s why top teams choose to OWN their AAA affiliates, rather than play roulette with locally owned franchises…
Then? Wilpon kind of explains it away with that one NY team.
A grand total of three (assuming the Paw/ProvSox purchase is completely finalized) OWN their AAA affiliates. Two of those have owned their AAA affiliate for less than two years. Those decisions have as much to do with business as player development.
Yes, there are several affiliate locations at each level that will always be the least desirable, and yes the Mets wound up with one of them in the last Triple-A organization shuffle. But both your underlying premise and the conclusions you’ve drawn from it are wrong.
At this point it seems like musical chairs on who gets stuck in Vegas or Colorado Springs. Ultimately you’d want maybe what the Braves have…that AAA affiliate down the street basically. Makes those rehab assignments easy. Minnesota figured that out by affiliating with Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids had a nice battery a.few times though the rotation last season…Ricky Nolasco and Joe Mauer. About a 45 minute flight away.
I agree with you on relationship between team an affiliate. The Angels were in Low A Cedar Rapids for nearly 25 seasons….but the focus on free agent signings with Pujols, Wilson, and Hamilton left the draft pool dry. So when the time came to renegotiate the working agreement… Cedar Rapids jumped ship and signed on with Minnesota… Its worked out well given MN will likely always have a focus on player development and is in close geographic proximity.
All that said….AAA is about the least bound to that as any level. It’s a mix… You want to win…but also not expose the prospects to negative veteran presence.
AAA teams need to sell tickets too. AAA isn’t nearly as important a developmental level as AA is.
It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where he hits well enough to challenge Justin Smoak for his spot on the roster.
I am always fooled by how player’s play against the Orioles.
I thought Smoak was having a good year. However, he is batting .191 and that’s not good. I know he plays good defense and he did hit a 2 run home to help the Jays beat the O’s in the April series. He didn’t do anything against them except play good D in this series that was just finished yesterday. I didn’t take real notice of that until now.
So if Luke Scott beats Smoak out, I would be still shocked. However, I do wish him well.
Smoak is an odd character, or was in Seattle and they just finally had enough of him. He would only hit in the 2nd half of the season, if at all. Problem with that is obvious.. Team is carrying someone who isn’t going to produce at all during the 1st half and one is only hoping will act like “normal” and produce during August and September with some power. troubling isn’t it?
My word, John, you’ve got some interesting theories that lack any sort of empiracle evidence. Good on ya.
I’m really glad Luke Scott will be around young players like Dalton Pompey and Daniel Norris.
Nothing could go wrong there.
Ugh. Please don’t get called up.
I didn’t know he was still around
I think he’s staying out of the country until Obama’s term is over… so Toronto make sense…
Thought the Jays were looking for character players.
Then they have certainly found one. A true character.
Try signing or acquiring a reliever Alex.
I could have sworn Luke Scott was a pitcher now. Who am I thinking of?
This was my thought too. If they have to put Bautista on the DL and bring up Pompey or one of the other Bisons OF then they will need the depth.