The New York Yankees made a relatively minor trade yesterday trading left-handed relief pitcher Tyler Webb to the Milwaukee Brewers for a first bas prospect named Garrett Cooper. Cooper was immediately assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre with the RailRiders so at least for now this move doesn’t seem like the last New York will make potentially at first base but it’s an interesting trade nonetheless if you ask me. Let’s meet the man that the Yankees just acquired for Webb. This is Meet a Prospect: The Garrett Cooper Edition.
Garrett Cooper was born on December, 25 1990 in Auburn
Alabama but spent much of his childhood growing up in California. It was
California and specifically El Camino Community College where Cooper’s amateur
baseball career begun before he transferred to the University of Auburn for his
final two seasons of collegiate eligibility. While at Auburn the Milwaukee
Brewers drafted the right in the 6th round of the 2013 MLB First
Year Players Draft as a first baseman. It is worth mentioning that Cooper can
also play some outfield in a pinch which makes him all the more versatile for a
team like the New York Yankees.
Cooper is a huge guy standing 6’6” and weighing in at 230 lbs.
Cooper hits right-handed so he could be the right-handed platoon partner the
Yankees thought they were getting in Chris Carter when they signed the former
Milwaukee Brewer to a one-year deal this offseason.
In 75 games at Triple-A this season Cooper has hit .366 with
a 1.080 OPS, 17 home runs and 82 RBI for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. With
numbers like that it makes you wonder why Milwaukee would part with him for a frivolous
left-handed reliever. Am I missing something? Did the Yankees just steal an awesome
first baseman and a huge part of their future for a left-handed relief pitcher?
Maybe I am, if I am leave it below in the comments section.
Welcome to the family Garrett! I have a feeling we will be
seeing you really, really soon.
I think for Cooper it was a numbers game in Milwaukee. They have several first baseman in their MLB Top 30 Prospects list plus they made the commitment to Eric Thames who has done a decent job this year. He's not an elite prospect by any stretch of the imagination but he might be able to help. I think it was a shot worth taking but the Yankees shouldn't hesitate if they can grab Yonder Alonso, Justin Bour or Lucas Duda for a reasonable price.
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