The Yankees are showing interest in free agent Garrett Cooper, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. He hit the open market a week ago after being released by the Red Sox.
Cooper is looking for his third team of the 2024 campaign. He cracked the Cubs’ season-opening roster after signing a minor league contract. Cooper had a solid .270/.341/.432 showing across 12 games for Chicago, yet the Cubs designated him for assignment in April. The front office was evidently alarmed that he had struck out 13 times over his first 41 plate appearances. That skepticism seems to have been warranted, as Cooper struggled upon being dealt to the Red Sox in a cash trade.
Over 24 games with Boston, the righty-hitting first baseman slumped to a .171/.227/.229 batting line. He fanned 22 times while drawing only three walks in 75 trips to the plate. Boston elected to stick with Dominic Smith over Cooper once they welcomed Masataka Yoshida back from the injured list.
Whiffs have been an escalating problem for Cooper, who has struck out in 29.1% of his plate appearances since the start of last season. He owns a .242/.297/.395 line in 573 plate appearances across four teams over that stretch. Cooper had been a productive middle-of-the-order bat for the Marlins before that. Between 2019-22, he hit .274/.350/.444 and earned a nod to the ’22 All-Star Game.
Cooper is a former Yankee. New York acquired him from the Brewers back in 2017 when he was still in Triple-A. The Yankees called him up for 13 games late in the year before trading him the following offseason. They sent Cooper and Caleb Smith to the Fish for then-prospect Michael King — a move that worked out fairly well for both teams but eventually turned more clearly in New York’s favor.
The Yanks lost Anthony Rizzo for at least two months when he broke his arm in a collision at first base over the weekend. They called up Ben Rice in the wake of Rizzo’s injury. The 25-year-old has played in his first three big league contests, collecting two singles and a pair of walks in 11 plate appearances. Cooper could theoretically pair with the lefty-swinging Rice in a platoon, though the Yankees already have DJ LeMahieu as a potential right-handed complement.
GM Brian Cashman and the front office could explore the trade market for help at either corner infield spot over the next five weeks. It’s not easy to land a significant upgrade this far from the deadline, though, particularly with all but five teams still harboring some level of playoff aspirations. Cooper and José Abreu are options for teams looking for a stopgap at first base, though it’s not clear whether either player will command a big league contract offer. J.D. Davis is currently in DFA limbo with the A’s and will be traded or placed on waivers this weekend.
i would rather have ben rice get a shot at playing
swag – When Casas returns, Yanks should go after Dalbec. His power would play very well in Yankee Stadium, and he wouldn’t cost much.
not sure if serious…
Dasit – He’s an excellent change of scenery candidate, solid defensively, and was actually sent down to AAA today therefore not even with the Red Sox any longer.
Yankees took a flyer on Franchy, and he had never been successful at the MLB level unlike Dalbec who was. No harm in giving Dalbec a 30 day flyer.
I liked dalbec a few years ago, thought he was going to develop into a good player. Idk what happened though. At this point though idk if he’s more than organizational depth, I wouldn’t be thrilled if that was the direction the Yankees went in. I like Cooper, but he seems to have fallen off too. Yanks need help right now. The IF, outside of SS is really holding them back at the plate.
NYG – At this point in the season there’s limited options.
Who could they trade for when only 5 teams are non-contenders?
Very limited options, I want to say sign brandon belt, maybe trade for votto? but they’ll need to get up to speed so that could be an issue, if toronto would even entertain an in-divison deal. They should have been working Stanton at 1B for some flexibility… I’d like to see them bring andujar back – he’d have an opportunity for every day ABs, he’s showing he can be productive when he gets more than a handful of ABs a week.
Josh bell is a possibility too. LH bat, bad Marlins team. I like toglia from the Rockies but I doubt they’d move him.
Surely there must be better options out there…
Like his dad Cecil.
Jose Abreu on Line 2, Mr. Cashman.
I’d rather have Nick Johnson come out of retirement tbh
(He’d probably get hurt getting off the plane)
Yankees interested in Brandon Belt.
Toronto should have resigned Belt. Can’t understand why he is not signed by someone. 142 sOPS+ last season vRHP. He is 36 with knee issues, but the guy can hit.
He can hit but is sometimes hard to watch when there’s two outs in the 9th down a run with two on and he looks at strike three because it wasn’t perfectly in his strike zone. I used to love him innings 1 through 7 but dreaded him coming to the plate in the 8th and 9th.
Haven’t seen an article about a team being interested in a released player mid season
Cooper sucks he will fit nicely with yanks
I say stay with Rice or Sign Bird from the Mexican league
Why not
Bird is batting 325 in the Mexican League and he’s been injury free for years
Might as well as go big and sign Cano. He’s leading the league. He’ll probably fail his drug test a couple of weeks later, but there’s your stopgap for furat base.
Luke Voit is available. Announce him officially by commemorating the signing with Susan Waldman hosting an Oldtimers’s Day celebration at Yankee Stadium. Cano can be signed for second base. While your at it, Yankees, you can trade with the Mets and pick up Master Bader to play Centerfield.
team ben rice says no thank you
Joey Votto
Super Duper!
Luke Voit!
Lou Pinellas!
JOEY GALLO!
LESS NESSMAN AND DR. JOHNNY FEVER., REE Run, Jj Walker, and George Jefferson from Rickwood, Alabama. Get them Movin’on up to the East Side, cause you finally got a piece of the pie.
Meh. I’d prefer JD Davis as we have a black hole at 3rd. DJ has a 60% groundball rate. Davis isn’t great with the glove but he can step in at either corner. Would be nice if Peraza could start hitting but he might be completely broken at this point.
Y get him when the Red Sox will give you O’Neil for nothing they already said they are going to trade him and Jansen because they’re not bringing them back no matter what
Despite Tim Hill’s predictable debut, the fact the Yankees still have the appetite to scour flea markets is extremely cute.
Garrett Cooper would be subtraction by addition.
Can the Yankees fix Torkelson?
Cano over awful and lazy Torres
Let Rice play!! Worry about the horrible pen right now.
Agree Yanksfan. I’m focused on the pen and 3rd myself. Rice deserves a shot. Minors numbers paint a picture of a guy who may need platooning again lefties but we’ll see.
Stanton’s out. No surprise there. Who’s next?
No no on Cooper. Yes Stanton out again. So who won the office pool? I lost I said he would be on the DL around Memorial Day. Haha. Anyway time for Pereza to show up or he’s gone at the deadline. His last chance.
Every time I see DJ LeMahieu’s name, I roll my eyes. This dude has to go.