Brewers GM David Stearns acknowledges trading for second baseman Jonathan Schoop was a 'bad deal'

Milwaukee Brewers general manager David Stearns was blunt Friday in assessing his trade for second baseman Jonathan Schoop with two months remaining in the 2018 season.

“Look, I view it as a bad deal and that’s on me,” Stearns said in a telephone call with reporters.

Unwilling to gamble $10 million by going to salary arbitration with Schoop, Stearns decided not to offer a contract for 2019, making him a free agent. Stearns made the same decisions with left-handed relievers Dan Jennings and Xavier Cedeno, another late-season acquisition.

Friday was the deadline for teams to decide whether to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. Utility infielders Hernán Pérez and Tyler Saladino signed one-year deals with the Brewers to avoid arbitration, and the other seven eligible players were offered contracts at salaries to be determined.

Schoop, 27, was expected to be the Brewers’ primary second baseman for the final two months of the 2018 season as well as 2019 when acquired on July 31 from Baltimore in a trade for infielder Jonathan Villar and two prospects, right-hander Luis Ortiz and shortstop Jean Carmona. But he flopped badly at the plate and eventually lost playing time as Travis Shaw moved to second base, with newly acquired Mike Moustakas taking over at third base.

In 46 games, Schoop compiled a .577 OPS with four home runs and 21 RBI, with 41 strikeouts in 124 at-bats. The right-handed hitter mostly sat on the bench in the postseason despite the Brewers facing many left-handed pitchers.

After making $8.5 million last season, Schoop projected to get approximately $10 million in his final year of arbitration and Stearns decided that was too big of a gamble despite the possibility the talented infielder could return to his 2017 all-star form elsewhere.

“We looked at the performance that Jonathan had, both with us and beforehand, and did our best to evaluate him over the course of his career,” Stearns said. “We looked at our best-educated prediction going forward and the potential price tag going forward, compared with our internal alternatives and what is potentially available externally, and decided to go in this direction.”

There are many second basemen available on the free-agent market, including Brian Dozier, DJ LeMahieu, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jed Lowrie and Josh Harrison, but Stearns said he is comfortable with players already in the organization, including Pérez and Saladino. Middle-infield prospect Mauricio Dubon played well at Class AAA before going down with a torn ACL early in the season, and the Brewers' top prospect, Keston Hiura, could be ready before the end of the 2019 season.

“We do think the two guys we did sign today provide internal options there,” Stearns said. “And we do have youth coming in Triple-A that we’re very excited about. Keston is a very good prospect and we’re excited about him but he still hasn’t played a day at Triple-A. We do believe he has a bright future.”

As for the trade for Schoop, Stearns said, “Probably for a number of reasons it didn’t work here. So, it’s my job to look and figure out how best we could position ourselves going forward. Ultimately, we determined, unfortunately, it did not involve Jonathan Schoop.

“There’s a level of production that’s going to make a salary like that justifiable and ultimately we determined our resources were likely going to be better spent elsewhere. We understand there is a real possibility that Jonathan Schoop could bounce back and be closer to the player he was in 2017. He’s a really talented player. That’s why we traded for him."

“It just didn’t work here and we have to recognize that, and we have to move on and get better. There are other options out there, both in free agency and trade, and we’re certainly going to explore it. We’re open to everything.”

Stearns did not mention Shaw as a likelihood at second base, meaning he probably will return to third base. Moustakas became a free agent after the season and there has been no indication the Brewers would try to re-sign him and keep Shaw at second base.

“(Shaw at third base) is the default scenario,” Stearns said. “Travis has proven he has the versatility. That’s a nice asset to have. He has demonstrated he is open to doing it so if that presents itself again over the off-season, we’ll have that conversation with Travis.”

Jennings was a workhorse reliever, particularly in the first half, and posted 3.22 ERA in 72 appearances despite fading a bit toward the end of the season. Cedeno, acquired on Aug. 31 from the Chicago White Sox, compiled a 1.13 ERA in 15 appearances, mostly facing left-handed hitters, but struggled badly in the NLCS against Los Angeles (18.00 ERA in four outings).

In non-tendering those relievers, Stearns said it was a financial decision not to pay what they could earn through arbitration.

“Both of those guys had periods where they really performed well for us and were valuable members of our bullpen,” Stearns said. “It’s just part of the salary arbitration process that sometimes their potential arbitration earnings exceed what they’re likely to make on the free-agent market. It gives us a little more roster flexibility as we look to shape our bullpen for next year.”

Perez, who made $1.975 million last season, signed for $2.5 million. Saladino, acquired early in the season from the White Sox, agreed to a $887,500 salary after making $565,000 in 2018.

The Brewers’ remaining arbitration players are Shaw, right-handers Zach Davies, Jimmy Nelson, Junior Guerra and Corey Knebel, catcher Manny Piña and outfielder Domingo Santana. The team can continue to negotiate with those players until required to exchange salary figures in January.

The moves left the Brewers with 36 players on their 40-man roster, providing flexibility to sign free agents, a group that expanded with non-tenders across the majors, and/or make trades.

“I imagine we’ll find a way to fill some of those spots over the next 2½ months,” Stearns said. “(Trade) discussions have picked up this week but we’re not close to anything. I do think there is a fair amount of industry activity that is ongoing. That’s healthy this time of year. There’s likely going to be some activity over the next two or three weeks.”

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