The Braves have signed first baseman Garrett Cooper to a minor league contract, in line with FanSided’s Robert Murray. The deal consists of an invite for Cooper to attend Atlanta’s huge league Spring Coaching camp.
After spending the vast majority of his eight MLB seasons with the Marlins, Cooper now heads again to the NL East within the hopes of reaching some stability in what has develop into a journeyman-esque couple of years. Miami dealt Cooper to the Padres on the 2023 commerce deadline, and upon getting into free company final winter, Cooper landed with the Cubs on a minor league contract. He was then designated for project and subsequently traded to the Crimson Sox on the finish of April, however was then DFA’ed once more by Boston in June after which launched.
Cooper signed one other minors cope with the Orioles however didn’t make any appearances with Baltimore on the MLB degree, as accidents hampered his time at Triple-A Norfolk. Cooper had a .914 OPS over 84 plate appearances with Norfolk, which could trace that he has one thing left within the tank as he enters his age-34 season, even when his MLB numbers with Chicago and Boston left lots to be desired.
Cooper hit properly in 41 PA with the Cubs earlier than struggling badly over 75 PA with the Crimson Sox. It added as much as an total .206/.267/.299 slash line over 116 plate appearances, and the second straight season of declining numbers for Cooper after his Marlins heyday. Cooper hit .274/.350/.444 over 1273 PA for Miami from 2019-22, and was the crew’s All-Star consultant in 2022 despite the fact that accidents and the Marlins’ total decrease profile made him one thing of an underrated hitter.
Whereas there has at all times been a great deal of swing-and-miss in Cooper’s sport even in his prime years, his strikeout charges have elevated during the last two seasons and his hard-contact numbers have dropped. Defensively, Cooper performed a great deal of proper area earlier in his profession however has been virtually solely a primary baseman for the reason that begin of the 2021 season, other than two appearances in left area for the Cubs this yr.
Since Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna have the primary base and DH positions locked down in Atlanta, the outfield is probably going Cooper’s finest path to profitable a job on the Braves’ Opening Day roster. Jarred Kelenic is penciled in for the majority of labor in left area, however since he’ll want a platoon accomplice, a right-handed bat like Cooper is perhaps a super match.
A return to proper area additionally may not be out of the query, as Ronald Acuna Jr. is predicted to overlook a while at the beginning of the season as he returns from a torn ACL. The Braves have added Bryan De La Cruz (a former teammate of Cooper’s in Miami) and Conner Capel to an outfield depth chart that additionally consists of Luke Williams and Eli White, because the crew will attempt to make do within the nook outfield slots till Acuna is again in motion.
