The Rock N’ Roll Rays just got a little bit more country when it agreed to a one-year deal with OF/DH birther Luke Scott to as yet an unspecified sum.
Scott, famous for his love of guns and fringe right belief that President Obama was born in Kenya or some other such country with dirt, sand and terrorist breeding grounds, was a good source of power at bats.
I’m sure he can hit home runs like he shoots deer on target, but I’m just not sure if he can still hit, as in lay the ball on the bat. It is a given, however, that the Rays are usually right about these things.
In 2011, Scott had slashes of .220 BA / .301 OBP / .402 SLG, with 11 home runs and nine doubles in 209 plate appearances. That’s a small sample size to accuse Scott of decline, although the Baltimore Orioles have all but indicated its desire to move past Scott as early as last year. But prior to last season, Scott has hit 20 or more home runs for three straight seasons, all with the Orioles. He hit 18 as a 29-year-old in Houston in 2007, before he was traded east as part of the Miguel Tejada* package.
*It’s amazing to think how much of a franchise killer Miguel Tejada has been over his career. When he left Oakland, that team disintegrated faster than Hollywood could make a movie out of it. He signed a six-year deal with Baltimore, and his years there only amplifies the belief that owner Peter Angelos is suffering from a syphilis-induced dementia. Houston was still a respectable team, although by that time Cowboy Drayton McLane had slept with the same Turkish slut Angelos contracted his mind rot from. As soon as the Astros traded a decent package for a slugger who can’t slug or pretend to play shortstop while maintaining his dignity, Tejada gets busted for lying about his age in an embarrassing To Catch A Predator-like segment on ESPN. The Astros will now have to gut itself, and appears headed for another 100-loss season. To summarize, Houston, Oakland and Baltimore are still in the shitter. Coincidence? Bigfoot rumors? No. Tejada is, or was, a franchise killer.
Scott has hit 23, 25 and 27 home runs in his first three years in Baltimore, and one could hope his decline in 2011 had nothing to do with deer antlers being discovered as a covert source of growth hormones.
Scott will play a lot of designated hitter, although he can be deployed to right or left in emergency situations. His batting average has never been a plus, but he normally makes up for it with a career .349 on base percentage. He could be a flawed Carlos Pena three true outcomes slugger — drawing a walk, hitting a home run, or striking out — only because he hits almost as much grounders as flyballs. Scott minimizes his strikeouts, but also puts runners on base in danger.
For a team competing on a dime however, the only important things to consider are this: Scott is capable of 20 or more home runs, and he can reach base at a .340 clip. That’s what the Rays expected out of Manny Ramirez. Tampa Bay is one more supplementary hitter away from making a whole slugger.