Villar traded for Orioles’ Schoop
Second baseman Schoop acquired from Baltimore
Brewers also send two prospects to Baltimore for second baseman.
Unable to find a deal to their liking for a starting pitcher before the trade deadline Tuesday afternoon, the Milwaukee Brewers went for even more infield depth at the last minute by acquiring Baltimore second baseman Jonathan Schoop.
The Brewers sent second baseman Jonathan Villar, currently on the disabled list, and two minorleague prospects, right-hander Luis Ortiz and shortstop Jean Carmona, to Baltimore in the surprising deal.
Having acquired Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas on Friday night, which necessitated the move of Travis Shaw to second base, the Brewers now have more established infielders than places to play them.
“I think we have a talented grouping of infielders here,” general manager David Stearns said. “It gives us some good choices to make on a daily basis. It’s going to give (manager) Craig (Counsell) some options to choose from every single night when he makes out his lineup.
“Really, what it came down to for us is we think we’re getting better, and we think we’re adding to our overall depth. When we had the opportunity to do that, we jumped at it.”
As for how this infield puzzle will fit together with Moustakas, Shaw and Schoop, Stearns said, “I think there are ways to play all three of them. But I think that’s something
that Craig will sort through on a nightly basis. It does mean we’re going to have a good player on the bench every single day. We recognize that.
“It’s going to take a continued commitment to winning and some sacrifices by certain people to make this work, but we’re confident we’re going to be able to do that. Similar to some of our discussions in spring training when we talked about our outfield situation, these things do have a tendency to work themselves out.
“Part of the allure here was to add to the overall talent level of our team, increase our depth, understanding that the unknown is going to happen over the next two months of the season. We want to put ourselves in the best position possible to handle whatever comes at us. It certainly makes us deeper, and we think it makes our roster better.”
One answer might be to play Schoop at shortstop. Orlando Arcia recently was recalled from the minors, where he was sent after a season-long slump, but Schoop has played there a bit and might see action there in place of Arcia.
“He has the versatility and has done it in the past,” Stearns said. “We’ll see how the season progresses and how much he plays over there.”
Added Counsell: “I do think you’ll see him at shortstop. I want to have the conversation with him and let him work over there. But it’s something that we’ve thought of that’s a possibility, for sure.”
Schoop, 26, is batting .244 with 17 home runs and 40 RBI in 85 games. He has a low .273 on-base percentage and has struck out 74 times but is one of the hottest hitters in the game with a 12game hitting streak (.345, seven HRs, 16 RBI) that led to him being named the reigning American League player of the week.
Last year, Schoop slugged 32 home runs and drove in 105 runs, making the AL all-star team. The native of Curacao, whose name is pronounced “scope,” has played for the Orioles for six seasons, batting .261 with a .296 OBP and .450 slugging percentage over 635 games.
The Brewers slipped the deal in just ahead of the 3 p.m. deadline, obviously after failing to secure a starting pitcher. The Brewers were reported to be in the mix for Tampa Bay right-hander Chris Archer and Baltimore righty Kevin Gausman, who instead were traded to Pittsburgh and Atlanta, respectively.
There was reported interest in Cincinnati’s Matt Harvey as well but he was not traded before the deadline.
“There was a lot going on concurrently,” Stearns said. “We certainly had a number of conversations revolving around pitchers, some of whom were traded and many of who were not. We did think it was important to focus on adding a starter. We were unable to do that at this point but we still have August (when waivers are required) to see if there’s something out there that makes sense for us.”
The Pirates and Braves parted with significant packages of prospects to acquire their pitchers and it was evident that Stearns was not going to deal from the very top of his farm system to acquire either one. Ortiz was considered the No. 5 prospect in the Brewers’ system.
“In certain cases, there were prices we were not willing to meet,” Stearns said. “There were some very good pitchers that were traded today. I think the teams that traded them got quite a bit for the players, and deservedly so. I’m not going to name the pitcher but we thought we were close (to one deal).
“Ultimately, we weren’t able to consummate a deal for a pitcher.”
As for not being willing to part with any of his top four prospects, second baseman Keston Hiura, pitchers Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta, and outfielder Corey Ray, Stearns said, “That’s always the balance and the discussion. When you’re talking about acquiring an elite, controllable player, regardless of position, other teams are going to talk at the top of your system.
“In certain cases, we thought that was appropriate, and in certain cases we weren’t willing to go there.”
Asked where this leaves his team in terms of starting pitching, Stearns said, “I think we’ve had more confidence in our group than there has been externally. That’s fine. Our guys have done a really nice job this year of performing and keeping us in games.”
Schoop, who has an $8.5 million salary this season, has another year of arbitration eligibility before becoming a free agent, and Stearns said that extra season of control was important.
“It was a big part of the transaction to have the ability to control Schoop for another year,” he said. “We talk about control and in this case it played into the evaluation of the player.”
Villar had a strong 2016 season (.826 OPS, MLB-best 62 steals) but slumped last season (.665 OPS) after being moved from shortstop to second base. He was given another chance to prove himself this year, but his production slipped (.693 OPS in 87 games) before he went on the DL with a thumb injury.
Ortiz, 22, one of three players acquired from Texas in the Jonathan Lucroy/Jeremy Jeffress trade in 2016, was pitching at Class AA Biloxi, where he was 3-4 with a 3.71 ERA in 16 games (11 starts). Carmona, 18, was playing for the rookie Helena club, where he was batting .239 with a .298 OBP, four homers and 24 RBI in 39 games.
“Any time you’re giving up talented, young prospects, there’s pain,” Stearns said. “We have to make sure we’re doing it for the right reasons. In this case, we think it was the right move.”