Yankees: Jonathan Schoop could be the perfect short-term replacement for Didi

Tonight at 8 pm marks the deadline for players to be tendered or not tendered by their respective teams. One player expected to be non-tendered if his team can’t trade him before the deadline is Brewers second basemen, Jonathan Schoop. Schoop is coming off a down year but if he enters free agency the Yankees should strongly consider signing him.

On Thursday I wrote a post about Didi Gregorius and the slim possibility that the Yankees would actually non-tender him and let him become a free agent at tonight’s deadline. Well according to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman plan on tendering a contract to all of their arbitration-eligible players so Didi isn’t going anywhere.

That’s great news and not surprising at all considering how important a piece Didi is to this Yankee team if they want to win a championship in 2019. Of course, he’ll miss a large chunk of next season but when he returns he should provide a huge boost to what will already be a great team.

In Didi’s absence, Gleyber Torres is expected to be the primary shortstop which leaves the Yanks with an opening at second base. Ken Rosenthal of the Atheltic reported yesterday that it’s looking like the Brewers will opt to non-tender the aforementioned Schoop.

If this holds true I can’t think of a better short-term option to be the Yankees starting second basemen next season until Didi returns. Rosenthal went on to note in a later tweet that Schoop could also be traded before the deadline, but teams will be hesitant to pursue a trade because if he becomes a free agent they can just sign him instead of having to give something up to get him.

Should Schoop become a free agent he’s sure to garner plenty of interest from clubs even though he struggled throughout the 2018 season. In 131 games combined with the Orioles and the Brewers he hit only .233 with 21 HR, 61 RBI, and .682 OPS. Schoop was especially bad once he went to Milwaukee so much so that he spent the majority of the Brewer’s postseason run sitting on the bench.

Now part of the reason the Brewers are likely to non-tender Schoop is due to how poorly he played from them after they acquired him last season. But even more so because if they do keep him he’s set to make close to $10.1 million in arbitration salary next season according to MLB Trade Rumors.

Despite his dip in production last season Schoop is still someone who can help a lot of teams that need a power bat in the middle of their order. Even though the Yankees are a team that’s pretty much set with power right-handed bats, Schoop could definitely help them make up for the absence of his fellow countrymen Didi.

People might forget that it was just two seasons ago when Schoop was an All-Star for the Orioles and one of the best second basemen in all of baseball. He finished 12th in the league’s MVP vote and put up one of the more impressive offensive seasons we’ve seen from a second baseman in recent memory with a .293 AVG, 32 HR, and 105 RBI. A year before that Schoop hit 25 home runs and drove in 82 runs in 2016. He’s also always been a solid defender and has arguably one of the best arms for a second baseman in all of baseball.

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As I said earlier Schoop will garner a lot of interest if he becomes a free agent and because of his past track record, he could be in line for a decent payday on a multi-year deal. However, since he is only 27 years old he might be better off just taking a one year deal and betting on himself to have a big bounce-back season to set up an even bigger payday this time next year.

If he went that route the Yankees would be an ideal fit because they’d probably have no interest in signing him long-term and they have an open spot for him to get everyday at-bats. He could play every day at second base and then once Didi comes back the Yanks could still find a way to get him consistent at-bats at DH.

Playing in New York for one season would be the perfect situation for him to re-up his value. He’d have the chance to make a big impact for a championship contender on the biggest stage in the country.

Sure things could backfire and Schoop could cost himself millions if things didn’t go well in New York just as they didn’t in Milwaukee, but I truly don’t believe that would happen. After watching him play for Baltimore all these years I think he’s too good of a player not to bounce back next season and remind everybody he’s still one of the premier second basemen in the league.

We’ll have to wait and see whether Schoop is a player the Yankees would have interest in, but if he only cost them a one year deal for around $10 million I can’t see why they wouldn’t. He’d be a low-risk high reward signing and they know better than anyone the type of difference maker he can be.

The Yankees need to find a way to make up for the production their losing with Didi sidelined and if Schoop can bounce back next season he can provide them that single handily.