Gausman, Schoop reflect on O’s careers
O’s trade young stars rather than make them part of team’s future
NEW YORK — Second baseman Jonathan Schoop might’ve been the Orioles’ best international find in recent memory. Signed as a 16-year-old out of Curaçao to a nominal signing bonus, he became a budding superstar the club could have built their next competitive window around.
But Schoop’s tenure with the club ended abruptly Tuesday, as the 26-year-old fan favorite was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for infielder Jonathan Villar and two prospects without the club having made a play to keep him around.
The Orioles avoided the situation they faced this year with shortstop Manny Machado by dealing Schoop before his final season of club control. And once the team made it clear it was moving forward with a rebuild, it became clear that Schoop’s days with the Orioles were numbered – unless they moved to sign him to an extension. That never came to fruition, Schoop said. “They never talked with my agent that I know of,” Schoop said. “They never asked for an extension, never asked to talk, that I know of. … They know what they’re doing. They know what’s good for them. Maybe they have something differently planned. They told me they want a rebuild. The one thing I know is to go out there and play baseball. The business side, I know nothing about it, so they know more than me.
“I can’t explain it. I’ve got to thank the fans, the Orioles fans, and I’ve got to thank [manager] Buck [ Showalter] for giving me the chance to be a big leaguer. I’ve got to thank all of the coaching staff, especially [third base coach] Bobby [Dickerson], who helped me through my career in the minor leagues coming up and making me the player I am right now.”
Schoop, named an All-Star and Most Valuable Oriole in 2017, said he wanted to remain with Baltimore, but he’s seen best friend (Machado) traded, as well as homegrown players Zach Britton and Kevin Gausman also dealt to supplement the farm system with prospects.
“Yes,” Schoop said when asked whether he wanted to stay, “because this is the team that gave me the chance. This is the team that signed me, since Curaçao, and gave me the chance to be a big leaguer. Know what I mean? But now I’m in Milwaukee, so I need to focus on them, focus on my new team. Go over there, give my all over there and win.”
After grinding through a difficult first half of this season, Schoop began to replace Machado as the team’s top offensive contributor. Since the All-Star break, whenMachadowas traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Schoop hit .349/.349/.860, homering in seven of nine games. Schoop hit .360 and posted a1.056 OPS with nine homers over his past 23 games, raising his season batting average from .197 to .244. Gausman’s departure bittersweet: Gausman tried his best to look to the future after finding out Tuesday he had been traded to the Atlanta Braves — suddenly thrown into the pennant race, being reunited with former coaches Dave Wallace and Dom Chiti, and the promise of reaching his potential in the National League.
But on his last day as an Oriole, Gausman — who was dealt to the Braves with injured reliever Darren O’Day in exchange for four prospects and international bonus slots — couldn’t help but reflect on the frustration, in his eyes, of not fulfilling the promise placed on him when the Orioles made him the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft.
“I feel like, to be honest in my time here, I don’t feel like I pitched to my abilities,” Gausman said. “It’s unfortunate to say that. I really feel like I had two years here where I was [pitching] to the best of my ability.”
Despite a pedestrian 4.43 ERA, Gausman was the Orioles’ top starter in 2018. He altered his mechanics early in the season and had 11 quality starts in 21 games. After struggling over the first half of seasons throughout his career, Gausman posted his best first half of his career, and as a pitcher with a track record of getting better as the season went along, was looking forward to having his most consistent all-around season. Now if that happens, it will be in another uniform.
“After talking to their GM, they felt real strongly about my presence, to be able to come in and pitch a lot of innings,” Gausman said. “I think part of it was the success that I had in the second half. I think a lot of teams looked at that and needed a big arm in the second half and I’m sure that had something to do with that also.”
Whether the Orioles gave up on Gausman, who was under team control for two more season beyond this one, remains to be seen. But they never approached him about an extension to be a part of the team’s rebuild. And of the six veterans the Orioles traded, he was the one who projected to be with the club the longest.
In Gausman’s first year as a full-time starter in 2014, he posted a 3.57 ERA in 20 starts, in part because the team shuttled him to the minors six times. That was reality for Gausman, whose first three seasons were full of trips between Baltimore and the minors, which is one reason he remained controllable for so long.
Once that stopped in 2016, Gausman assembled his best season, going 9-12 with a 3.61 ERA in 30 starts, a season in which pitched under Wallace and Chiti, the former Orioles pitching and bullpen coaches, respectively.
“I was part of some really good teams here,” Gausman said. “The last two years have been real frustrating, both on us and on the fans, and I think on our staff, too. Unfortunately, that’s the way I’m going out. I was a part of 2014 [the team that reached the American League Championship Series]. I had some big innings in the playoffs. I was part of one of the teams that kind of brought quality baseball back to Baltimore. That ’14 team was special.” Around the horn: The Orioles called up right-handed reliever Cody Carroll before Tuesday’s game to fill the bullpen roster spot vacated by right-hander Brad Brach, who was traded to the Atlanta Braves after Sunday’s game. Carroll, who was acquired from the NewYork Yankees in the Britton trade, made just two one-inning relief appearances for Triple-A Norfolk. …. The team also recalled infielder Breyvic Valera before Tuesday’s game to fill Schoop’s roster spot but he hadn’t yet arrived before the game. Valera was one of five players acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Machado trade. …. Villar is expected to join the Orioles on Thursday in Texas, Showalter said. Villar went on the disabled list with a sprained right thumb on July 15 and was completing a minor league rehabilitation assignment at the time of the trade.