With $10.1 million on the final year of his contract, the Milwaukee Brewers are contemplating the options for their infielder Jonathan Schoop. The club is mulling whether to trade him to tender him or not to tender him. If the Brewers decide to do the latter, the 27-year old Curaçaoan will become a free agent.
After a breakout and strong 2017 season in which he hit .297, Schoop had a subpar year in 2018 in which his batting average came close to the Mendoza Line (.202). The Brewers acquired Schoop in a trade that sent second baseman Jonathan Villar, as well as right-hander Luis Ortiz and shortstop Jean Carmona, both minor leaguers, to Baltimore.
According to a Tweet by Ken Rosenthal, there are strong indications the Brewers will not tender Schoop.
Brewcrewball.com stated “While any team trading for Schoop would at the very least earn the right of first refusal, plenty of teams may just prefer to wait and see if Schoop truly does become a free agent because it may end up saving them money. Even though Schoop’s progression through the arbitration system has him up to the level of 8 figures at this point, it’s highly unlikely there would be enough demand for him on the free agent market for him to secure that kind of salary, even on a one-year deal. Some teams may prefer to wait the process out and see if they could save $2-3 million in annual salary.”
The tendering deadline will be November 30. No matter what the Brewers decide to do, it is very likely Jonathan Schoop has played his final game for the team from Milwaukee.
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