When Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns traded Jonathan Villar, number seven prospect Luis Ortiz, and another player to the Baltimore Orioles for Jonathan Schoop in 2018, many fans wondered why. The Brewers had Travis Shaw, who had moved from third base to second base in favor of recently acquired Mike Moustakas, along with the newcomer Schoop. That meant someone would be the odd man out, and seemed to be a strange trade when it was obvious that the Brewers needed a starting pitcher more than they did infield depth. As it turned out, the pitching was good enough as the Brewers made it all the way to the National League Championship Series before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. Schoop on the other hand, lasted only until the end of the season and was granted free agency.

Schoop (pronounced ‘Scope’) was signed as an international free agent in 2008 by the Baltimore Orioles. He was another in a line a major stars to come from Willemstad, Curaçao and was preceded by closer Kenley Jansen and Hall of Fame outfielder Andruw Jones. The right-handed batting second baseman made his way up the Orioles minor league system and made his big league debut on September 25, 2013 and went 2-for-3 with a home run in his first game. In 2014, Schoop became the O’s starting second baseman. In 2015 he suffered a knee injury and missed nearly three months. The next two years combined, he only missed two games total as he slammed 57 homers in those seasons, earning All-Star status in 2017. After a half-season in Baltimore in 2018, Schoop was traded to the Brewers.

The trade was a bad one for Milwaukee, as Schoop played in only 46 games and batted .202/.246/.331 with only four HRs. He was granted free agency after the season. 

The Minnesota Twins signed Schoop as a free agent in December 2018 but he only played one year for the Twinkies, batting .256/.304/.473 with 23 HRs in 433 at-bats. He moved to Detroit as a free agent during the Covid season of 2020 and then had one of his better years in 2021, batting .278/.320/.435 with 22 homers, 30 doubles, and 84 RBI. Schoop had his worst season in 2022 with a .561 POS and an OPS+ of 60. After similar production in the first half of 2023, he was designated for assignment and released by Detroit in mid-July.

The last two seasons, Schoop has played for the Algodoneros de Union Laguna team in the Mexican League along with ‘fellow Jonathan’ Villar.