Milwaukee Brewers Rumors: Jonathan Schoop likely to be Non-Tendered?

After a disappointing few months as a Milwaukee Brewer, it appears Jonathan Schoop could be on his way out.

Even at the time that the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Jonathan Schoop from the Baltimore Orioles at the July 31st trade deadline, many found it to be a peculiar move.

But GM David Stearns made it clear that he was looking to add offense to this Brewers lineup. Unfortunately, Schoop’s time as a Brewer never panned out as originally expected.

Jonathan Schoop as a Brewer

As a Brewer Schoop posted a slash line of .202/.246/.331 with an OPS of just .557, a far cry from his .244 average in Baltimore and .720 OPS.

This left Stearns and the Milwaukee Brewers with a very difficult decision to make this offseason on whether or not to bring Schoop back for 2019.

As of today, according to a tweet from Ken Rosenthal, Milwaukee won’t be bringing Schoop back.

Schoop is just 27-years-old and last years numbers in Milwaukee were well below his career averages so there is potential to bounce back.

Why Non-Tender Schoop?

However, Schoop is expected to be paid $10.1 million in 2019, a large hit for the small-market Brewers to take with no promise of increased production.

Milwaukee has the option to still trade Schoop but with other teams knowing that the Brewers don’t want him, opposing teams may wait for him to hit free agency or send a low-ball offer.

It appears the Brewers best option will be looking to find a cheaper second baseman in free agency, who really can’t play much worse than Schoop did here.

Another option is to spend extra money to bring back Mike Moustakas or another quality third baseman and move Travis Shaw back to second.

Schoop’s time here in Milwaukee did not go as hoped and spending $10 million on a one year rental as the Brewers wait for Keston Hiura doesn’t make much sense. It appears that David Stearns feels the same way.

If the Milwaukee Brewers were to tender Schoop a contract, they would face a difficult task in trying to trade him while heading into arbitration. He would likely still be with Milwaukee on Opening Day should he get tendered, but according to Rosenthal’s report, they’re leaning towards cutting their losses and moving on from Schoop.