Baltimore Orioles: Extend Jonathan Schoop as soon as possible

Now that the Manny Machado rumor mill is spinning like crazy, the Baltimore Orioles should look to the strengths of their other players. Especially Jonathan Schoop.

The Baltimore Orioles need to recognize that now is the right time to extend Schoop for the long term.

He is under team control and will not be a free agent until 2020. If the Orioles believe that Schoop’s All-Star 2017 was not a fluke, then the team should make him an Oriole for several more seasons.

Making up for past mistakes

The Orioles should have done this with Manny Machado a few years ago. Had Peter Angelos encouraged his front office to extend Machado back in 2014 or 2015, Dan Duquette might not have to be fielding so many offers for the franchise player. Instead, Duquette could comfortably relax with Machado on the roster for many more years at an affordable price.

Schoop may have taken a few more seasons than Machado needed to have his break out, but he was the only Orioles player invited to the 2017 All-Star Game. Machado showed up as a spectator, but Schoop was on the field, playing between the lines. All season long, Machado and Schoop were neck-in-neck with batting stats and the two finished within one home run of each other but Schoop had more RBIs and a better batting average.

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Schoop by the numbers

Schoop showed off his offensive and defensive skills in 2017. He played in 160 games in 2017 and all but five of them were at second base. The others were at shortstop and he performed well at both middle infield positions. He finished the season with his best WAR of his career: 5.1. For comparison, Machado finished 2017 with a WAR of 3.5. However, Machado has had three seasons with WAR numbers above six.

Make Schoop a franchise face

If Schoop continues to perform like this in his last few seasons under team control, he could end up being too expensive for the Orioles to afford. While he may not be a $300+ million player, he could demand a serious sum. Signing Schoop to a long-term deal now could keep him in Baltimore for a nice, long time. In his first arbitration year (2017), he made $3.4 million. But, the deal should be less of a financial burden than the ridiculous Chris Davis contract.

Next: Why the O's should move Machado to shortstop

If Machado is on his way out, the Orioles need to keep someone on the team who will keep fans walking through the gates. Schoop could be that guy and the Orioles should do what they can to keep him in Birdland.