(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
   Jonathan Schoop and Milwaukee Brewers separate
Nederlands
 MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (USA) -
Jonathan Schoop is no longer a player of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The 27-year old infielder became a Free Agent on Friday (November 30) after the club decided to 'non-tender' him a new contract.
...Jonathan Schoop hitting for the Netherlands...
...during the 2017 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
When a club 'non-tenders' a player, it declines to give that player a contract for the upcoming season, which immediately makes the player a Free Agent.
Players on the 40-man roster with fewer than six years of Major League service time must be tendered contracts each off-season by a set deadline, which comes mostly early December.
When tendering a new contract to a player, the new salary will be determined set via arbitration, which mostly results in a raise of the player's salary.
Most times, a club will 'non-tender' a player, because it feels the raise in salary he will receive in arbitration would be greater than his on-field value.
In other cases, a club will 'non-tender' a player just to make room on the 40-man roster.
In the case of Jonathan Schoop, Milwaukee stated he underperformed after coming to the team in a trade on July 31 with the Baltimore Orioles.
Because of his performance with the Brewers, the club opted to 'non-tender' Schoop as he would have been rewarded a raise via arbitration from his 8.5 million dollar he earned this year.
Referring to the trade, Milwaukee's General Manager David Stearns said on Friday: ,,It was a bad deal, and that's on me.''
Stearns added: ,,For a number of reasons, it didn't work here.
It's my job to look and figure out how best we could position ourselves going forward, and ultimately we determined that unfortunately, it did not involve Jonathan Schoop''.
Milwaukee Brewers also decided to 'non-tender' lefthanded relievers Dan Jennings and Xavier Cedeno, who therefore also became Free Agents.
Jonathan Schoop made his Major League-debut in 2013 playing for Baltimore Orioles.
He then appeared in five games and batted 4-for-14 (.286) with a homerun.
Schoop hit his homerun in his first-ever Major League-game on September 26, 2013 against Toronto Blue Jays.
In the same game, he hit a single in his first at bat and went on to score a run.
In the following season, the second baseman became a regular of the Orioles and became a productive player.
In 2014, he batted only .209 (95-for-455), but scored 48 runs and batted in 45 runs, while hitting 16 homeruns in 137 games.
In 2015, Schoop played in 86 games and batted .279 (85-for-305) with 15 homeruns and 39 RBI's.
...Jonathan Schoop playing for the Netherlands...
...during the 2013 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Schoop then played in all 162 regular season-games for Baltimore in 2016 and batted .267 (164-for-615).
He collected 38 doubles, one triple, 25 homeruns, scored 82 runs and batted in 82.
Last year was his best in the Major League, setting career highs.
In 160 games, Schoop batted .293 (182-for-622) with 32 homeruns, scored 92 runs and batted in 105.
His performance in 2017 led to him being selected in the team of the American League for the All Star Game.
This year, Schoop batted .244 (85-for-349) in 85 games for Baltimore with 18 doubles, 17 homeruns, 45 runs scored and 40 RBI's.
When he came to the Brewers in July, it was intended to have him also play for the club through next year.
However, while playing for the Brewers, Schoop never got into a productive rhythm.
After his trade, he batted only .202 (25-for-124) with four doubles and four homeruns in 46 games for Milwaukee.
He scored 16 runs for the Brewers and batted in 21.
With Milwaukee, Schoop won the title in the Central Division of the National League.
With 96-67, Milwaukee had the best record in the National League.
In the best-of-five National League Division Series, Milwaukee swept Colorado Rockies in three games.
In the following National League Championship Series between the Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers all seven games were needed.
Los Angeles won 4-3 to advance to the World Series.
Schoop became a back-up player and got only eight at bats in the postseason.
Schoop also played in the postseason with Baltimore in 2014 and 2016.
In 2011, Schoop played in the Futures All Star Game.
In both 2011 and 2012, Schoop was named Organization All Star.
In 2011, Schoop played for the Netherlands National Baseball Team, which then captured the title at the World Baseball Championship in Panama.
In the team, he played together with his brother Sharlon Schoop, who also had played for the Orange squad in the two previous years.
For being a member of a world championship-team, both Schoop-brothers received a Royal Decoration.
Jonathan Schoop also played for the Netherlands at the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Both times, the Netherlands reached the Semi-Final.
In total, Schoop played in 28 official games for the Netherlands so far.
(November 30)
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