The Detroit Tigers and Curaçao-born infielder Jonathan Schoop have agreed on a one-year contract worth $6.1 million. As part of the Minnesota Twins last season, Schoop reached the playoffs for the second time in his career.
After spending five seasons with the Baltimore, the Orioles traded him to the Milwaukee
Brewers halfway the season. With the Brew Crew, Schoop batted .259 after he batted .262 with the O’s. After the 2018 season, Schoop elected free agency and signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Twins.
With the Twins, Schoop had a curious season as he batted better on the road than at Target Field. On the road, Schoop batted. 266 while his numbers were not as good at home: .256 with twenty-three home runs. Only his home run production on the road stayed behind: sixteen.
Schoop was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an international free agent in 2008. As he climbed up through the O’s minor league system, he was part of the Dutch national team during the 2011 World Cup that was won by the Dutch. He was the player that made the last out at third base in the final against Cuba.
Just before the 2013 season, Schoop was also part of the Dutch national team during the World Baseball Classic. During the tournament, in which the Dutch reached the semi-finals, Schoop batted a subpar .214. After spending most of the year at AAA Norfolk, he was called up by the Orioles in September. On September 25 he made his MLB debut with a single in his first MLB at-bat. Even though Schoop is one of Curaçao’s many good shortstops, he was used as second baseman.
Also in 2017, Schoop was part of team Kingdom of the Netherlands. He had a better batting average than four years earlier but with .222 it still wasn’t great. 2017 may be considered his best season so far. He played 160 games for the Orioles and batted .293 with thirty-two home runs and a hundred and five RBI.
With the Tigers, the 28-year old will likely the double-play tandem with shortstop Nico Goodrum. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Schoop will give the Tigers the flexibility to to be patient with a young group of position player prospects.
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