Brewers: A Look At The 3 Worst Deadline Deals in Franchise History

MILWAUKEE, WI – OCTOBER 04: Jonathan Schoop #5 of the Milwaukee Brewers at bat during Game One of the National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies at Miller Park on October 4, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

#3 Milwaukee Pulls Trigger on Schoop

Orioles received: IF Jonathan Villar, RHP Luis Ortiz, IF Jean Carmona

Brewers received: IF Jonathan Schoop

In what was supposed to be a jolt for the offense, Jonathan Schoop couldn’t be what the Brewers needed him to be, in fact, he was the opposite.

In a trade of Jonathans, Villar was the only active major league player that Baltimore would get. He had a solid couple years in Milwaukee hovering around a .250 average with some quality defense. In Baltimore, he did have some nice seasons including 2019, where he played all 162 games and hit .274 with 24 home runs and 73 runs batted in. Luis Ortiz only played in three MLB games with the Orioles and had a 12.71 ERA and a 10.96 FIP. Jean Carmona is currently 21 years old and in Single A ball in the Orioles system.

David Stearns looking at the Schoop trade in hindsight: "Look, it was a bad deal, and that's on me. We made a trade for a player we thought was going to be here for a year and a half, and I was wrong."
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) November 30, 2018

The Crew believed they were getting a guy that could propel them to new heights. They’d recently acquired Mike Moustakas from the Royals and the infield was coming together…but one guy couldn’t get going, Schoop.

In 46 games in a Brewers uniform, he slashed .202/.246/.331 with only four long balls and a strikeout percentage of 30.6%. He had a terrible September, when the Brewers needed him most in the hopes of catching the Cubs in the NL Central and found himself behind the likes of Hernan Perez and Tyler Saladino. Unlike the first two examples where the Crew were sellers, this was one of the very few times the Brewers were buyers at the deadline and made the wrong call.

The plan was to have Schoop produce at second base for a year and a half, which would reduce the need to rush their top prospect, second baseman Keston Hiura, to the big leagues. Instead, Schoop was non-tendered in the winter of 2018 and the Brewers ended up having to bring Hiura to the big leagues early on in 2019. He found success there, but given his struggles in 2020 and 2021, perhaps rushing him made things worse in the long run.

Obviously, not all deals work out. But the word around the MLB is that the Brewers are ready to make an addition or two this season before the deadline passes. Will that transaction find itself on a future list like this? I can’t wait to find out.

#3 Milwaukee Pulls Trigger on Schoop

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