The Minnesota Twins confirmed yesterday that they have signed free agent second baseman and Curacao native Jonathan Schoop to a one year deal. Reports state that Schoop will get $7.5 million plus incentives but there is no mention of any player or team option.
Schoop was signed as an amateur free agent by the Baltimore Orioles in August 2008 and made his big league debut with the O’s on September 25, 2013 and was 2 for 3 with a home run, three runs scored and a RBI.
The Orioles traded Schoop to the Milwaukee Brewers at the July 31 trade deadline last year to help the Brew Crew in their playoff run but Schoop was not the player the Brewers hoped for and he hit just .202 in 46 games. The arbitration eligible Schoop was not tendered by the Brewers and thus became a free agent.
Jonathan Schoop has played in 681 big league games and has a career batting average of .258 with 110 home runs playing most as a second baseman but he has also played at short and at third base in the big leagues. Although he has no Gold Gloves on his resume he is regarded as a good second baseman.
I think the 27 year-old Jonathan Schoop who goes by the nickname of “Mamba” is a very nice addition to the Minnesota Twins and should help the team in 2019. I tend to think that Schoop will be more like the Oriole player he has been versus the Brewer player he was in the second half of last season in the National League. If worse come to worse and the Twins are playing terrible baseball in 2019 he can always be traded but I don’t see that happening as I think the Twins will be one of the big surprises in 2019.
The Twins also announced that they had signed free agent infielder Ronald Torreyes. The 26-year old Venezuela native has played parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball with the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting .281 (162-for-576) with 30 doubles, six triples, four home runs and 56 RBIs in 229 career games.
Fancred’s Jon Heyman adds that the deal will be with $800k if Torreyes makes the Major League team. Dan Hayes of The Athletic further clarifies that it’s a split Major League contract for Torreyes, who does have a minor league option remaining.