The Brewers upgraded their infield by landing second baseman Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles before the trade deadline Tuesday, the teams announced Tuesday. He’ll be under team control through the 2019 season.
The package being sent to Baltimore includes infielder Jonathan Villar, pitching prospect Luis Ortiz and shortstop prospect Jean Carmona.
Schoop, 26, is the latest piece to be moved by the Orioles as part of an aggressive selling off of players. Manny Machado and Zach Britton are among others that the team parted ways with in deals this month to expedite a rebuilding process.
The second baseman, who made the 2016 AL All-Star team, has batted .244/.273/.447 this season. He’s hit for power with 17 doubles and 18 homers, but it’s hard to ignore that on-base percentage. Still, he’s been worth 1.1 wins above replacement despite that problem, per Baseball-Reference.
That’s not much of an upgrade from Villar, who started 64 games at second base for Milwaukee this season. Villar has batted .261/.315/.377 and recorded 1.4 WAR in 87 games. However, Schoop is just one season removed from posting 5.2 WAR and finishing 12th in AL MVP voting, so this is an upside play for Milwaukee.
Ortiz, the No. 7 prospect in the Brewers’ system according to MLB Pipeline, is a good talent to add to the Orioles’ farm system. He’s posted a 3.71 ERA in 68 innings with Class AA Biloxi this season. Carmona, ranked No. 14 among Brewers’ prospects, has batted .239/.298/.406 with in the rookie league this season.
