The Toronto Blue Jays were in need of depth at the triple-A level, with Chris Colabello and Ezequiel Carrera filling roles in the majors, so the club agreed to terms on a minor-league deal with Luke Scott.
Once he’s officially signed, Scott will report to the Buffalo Bisons. Per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, he will earn approximately $550,000 if he makes it to the majors.
Here’s everything you need to know about the veteran outfielder:
Name: Luke Scott | Age: 36
Bats: Left
Position: Outfield/DH
Height: 6-foot-0 | Weight: 220 pounds
Drafted: 2001– 9th round by the Cleveland Indians
2014 stats: 33 games, .267/.392/.505, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 18 strikeouts, 20 walks (Korean Baseball Organization)
Scott hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2013 season with the Tampa Bay Rays, when he hit nine home runs with 40 RBI in 91 games. He spent 33 games with SK Wyverns of the Korean Baseball Organization in 2014 before briefly appearing for Pericos de Puebla in the Mexican League earlier this year.
He offers a left-handed power bat, having hit 75 home runs with 214 RBI with the Baltimore Orioles from 2008-10. He has a career slash line of .258/.340/.481 with an OPS of .845 against righties over nine big-league seasons with the Houston Astros, Orioles, and Rays.
The best stretch of his career came between 2007-10, where he exceeded 18 home runs per season with an OPS above .807 for four consecutive years.
However, Scott is most recognized for his off-the-field persona. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun once called him “one of the nicer, happier” guys in baseball, but he’s quite the complex character.
He was released from his team in Korea last year after calling his manager “a coward and a liar” following a dispute with the club per NBC’s Hardball Talk.
Throughout his career, Scott has been very outspoken about his beliefs, starting with religion. He has gone on national TV on multiple occasions to promote the right to carry guns since he is an avid hunter and a firearms enthusiast. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times once wrote that Scott brought two 7 1/2-foot hunting spears used for killing wild hogs into the team’s spring clubhouse before the 2012 season.
Scott has also been critical of U.S. president Barack Obama.
“[Obama] was not born here,” Scott once told Yahoo! Sports.
“That’s my belief … I was born here. If someone accuses me of not being born here, I can go — within 10 minutes — to my filing cabinet and I can pick up my real birth certificate and I can go, ‘See? Look! Here it is. Here it is.’ The man has dodged everything. He dodges questions, he doesn’t answer anything.
“Obama does not represent America. Nor does he represent anything what our forefathers stood for.”
To dig deeper into Scott’s unique personality, ESPN made him the subject of a large feature.
“He doesn’t hide it,” former teammate Mark Reynolds told ESPN. “He doesn’t talk behind people’s backs about anything. A lot of people have those opinions and don’t say anything…He’s a patriot. He loves America. He’s one-of-a-kind.”
However, there is one subject on which most Blue Jays supporters would agree with Scott: his disdain of Boston Red Sox fans. In an interview with MLB.com before the 2012 season, Scott reminisced about the 2011 Red Sox collapse and explained why he can’t stand their fan base.
“Just their arrogance,” Scott said. “The fans come in and they take over the city. They’re ruthless. They’re vulgar. They cause trouble. They talk about your family. Swear at you. Who likes that? When people do that, it just gives you more incentive to beat them. Then when things like [the last game of last season] happen, you celebrate even more.”
In that respect, he should fit in just fine if he makes it to Toronto.
