Orioles pull back Luke Scott after he’s claimed on waivers

Luke Scott is quietly having a huge season in Baltimore, hitting .293/.357/.577 with 22 homers and 24 doubles in 92 games to rank eighth among AL hitters with a .934 OPS. He’d obviously make a nice stretch-run pickup for contenders in need of a big bat and the Orioles placed him on waivers to set up a possible trade, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com reports that they pulled him back after a mystery team claimed him. In other words, he won’t be going anywhere. Scott is signed to a one-year, $4 million contract and will be under team control as an arbitration-eligible player again next season, so the Orioles can either look to deal him this offseason or perhaps keep him around if they think some semblance of contention is possible in 2011.