The Brewers are known to be looking for additions at first base, with general manager Matt Arnold having admitted last month that both infield corners could use some work, listing a reunion with Carlos Santana as one move they have interest in. Today, Robert Murray of FanSided reiterates that interest in Santana but adds that the Brewers have also considered Garrett Cooper.
Cooper, 33, has plenty of success as a big league hitter but just had an ill-timed down year as he was heading into free agency. He hit .274/.350/.444 from 2019 to 2022, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 117, indicating he was 17% better than the league average hitter. Due to the pandemic and some injuries, he only played 331 games over that four-year stretch, but it was nonetheless a solid run of work at the plate.
But as mentioned, his production took a bit of a dip last year. Between the Marlins and the Padres, having been traded to the latter prior to the deadline, he hit .251/.304/.419 for a wRC+ of 96. On the plus side, he did stay healthy enough to play in 123 games, a career high. But it was obviously not the ideal platform season for him to take into free agency.
Nonetheless, the interest from the Brewers is sensible, as they didn’t have anyone firmly established at first base last year. Santana and Rowdy Tellez got most of the plate appearances, but the latter hit just .215/.291/.376, which led to him being non-tendered and signing with the Pirates. Santana’s line of .240/.318/.429 was right around league average but he’s now a free agent and going into his age-38 season. The club also gave some playing time to guys like Owen Miller, Luke Voit, Jon Singleton and Mike Brosseau, without any of them staking a firm claim to the job.
The club has made one addition at first base this offseason, acquiring Jake Bauers from the Yankees. But he has hit just .211/.302/.361 in his 1,398 major league plate appearances thus far in his career and shouldn’t stand in the way of Cooper joining the roster. Cooper hits right-handed and Bauers a lefty, but even Cooper’s weaker side is stronger than Bauers with the platoon advantage. Cooper has hit .286/.338/.478 against lefties in his career for a wRC+ of 120 and .262/.337/.419 against righties for a wRC+ of 107. Bauers has a paltry .210/.276/.330 line and 65 wRC+ against southpaws and then .211/.310/.371 and 89 wRC+ against righties.
Cooper isn’t a burner on the basepaths but is considered solid on defense. His time at first base has resulted in three Defensive Runs Saved, eight Outs Above Average and a grade of 2.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating. He’s also been sent out to the outfield corners at times but with his work there generally being considered subpar.
The Brewers are the defending champions in the National League Central but they won the division despite a rather tepid offense. As a whole, the club hit .240/.319/.385 for a wRC+ of 92, which was better than just six other teams. They could get a boost when prospect Jackson Chourio reaches the majors but not all prospects immediately hit the ground running when they make it to the show. Meanwhile, the other clubs in the division have all been active in upgrading their rosters for 2024.
There are other big bats available in free agency but the Brewers might want to use the designated hitter slot on Christian Yelich as they are loaded with young outfielders like Chourio, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Joey Wiemer and others. They have William Contreras at catcher and Willy Adames as anchors at catcher and shortstop, respectively. Brice Turang will likely get another shot at second base since the free agent market for that position is fairly weak.
At first base, there are other options out there. Rhys Hoskins would be considered by most to be the top available name, despite missing all of 2023 due to a torn ACL. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year, $36MM deal, which would be a little rich for the Brewers. In the last five years, the largest free agent deal they’ve given out was $24MM over two years for Jackie Bradley Jr., as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker.
Of the other names available at first, a lot of them are on the older side and likely couldn’t handle a full-time gig at first. Brandon Belt is coming off a strong season at the plate but he’s about to turn 36 and only made 28 starts at first on the year. Joey Votto is now 40 and was trying to come back from shoulder surgery last year. C.J. Cron is 34 but coming off an injury-marred year where he only played 71 games and wasn’t at his best when healthy.
Cooper has never really been the picture of health, having spent time on the injured list in his career due to a wrist sprain, a calf strain, a lumbar strain, an elbow sprain, a concussion, an inner ear infection and more. He’s only twice played more than 107 games in a season, but both of those instances were the last two seasons.
Cooper is pretty good when healthy.
Don’t understand why the Yankees traded this guy
Hey, it got them Michael King in return, who was a good hybrid SP/RP for a few years, and then was used as a main piece to get Juan Soto. I’d say it worked out well for the Yankees in th end.
Michael King hasn’t had a track record of success. Nestor 2.0
He helped get Soto, which is good enough.
Ok, and Cooper is a decent platoon 1B, not something you’re going to get your next all-star out of in a trade. King had a 147 ERA+ in 219 innings from 2021 through last season. I know WAR isn’t the be all end all and comparing position players to pitchers isn’t a one-for-one translation, but fwiw, King had +5.5 bWAR with the Yankees and Cooper had +4.3 bWAR with the Marlins.
Considering how Juan Soto hasn’t had a single at-bat for the Yankees and is only there for 2024, we will see.
Why? What has he ever done that’s impressive? Borderline starter at best.
Garrett Cooper is a pretty good offensive and defensive player but he is injury prone. He could be a great fit for Milwaukee.
Second base is a problem too. I predicted Brice Tourang would be the 2B rookie all star last year but he didn’t show up at all. No signs of a break out either. IMO: Milwaukee needs some table setters at the top.
That’s all MIL can afford.
Another team that needs a real 3B. Chapman must be really overpricing himself.
The Brewers would never spend the money needed to get Chapman.
If the Amazon/Diamond deal is approved Milwaukee suddenly has $100m. Just saying…
No, Diamond suddenly has $100mm. MIL just has confidence that they will get paid. It doesn’t give them more.
He won’t help
He’s represented by Boras. Those guys rarely sign early.
The fact he hasn’t signed yet is not, in itself, evidence of a collapsed market or overpricing on his part.
We won’t know until he signs. But I wonder how much his offensive results this past season hurt him.
I was hoping Cecil Cooper instead. Bring him back and Big Bill Wegman! Lets do this!
One of the most underated players in the game. I’d take him over Alonso right now
LFG, you’d take Cooper over Pete Alonso??? That’s quite literally a unique take.
@gbs42 Cooper is a better hitter then Alonso. Yes Alonso hits more homeruns but Cooper has consistently been a clutch pure hitter throughout his career. For example, give me DJ Lemeheui’s prime over Giancarlos Stanton’s prime any day of the week
I’d love to have you as a GM…of another team in my team’s division.
Hot take….
SFG has your infield corners.
Lamont Wade & JD Davis. Just kick down Corbin Burns and make the trade !
Cooper performed very well when he was in the Brewers minor league system, but he was perceived as being a non-prospect, quad-A ceiling type of guy. The Crew traded him and he became a dude.
Uninspiring. But, that’s being a fan of the Brewers, in a nutshell.
Yes, the uninspiring defending NL division champs.
I miss Corey Hart and Richie Sexson! Those were the days.
Yes Trumbo, but once your buddy Sexson got to Seattle it became Strikeout City for Richie.
ISOB, Yeah his glory years were definitely in MIL. He was always great when I played him in “MLB 2001” on PS1. 23 years ago for some…yesterday for me…
Brian Anderson 2.0
Almost the same stats as Lamont Wade.
Wade’s good but, I was reading some site about projected lineup with roster as it stands and they have him as the 3rd place hitter. That concerns me a bit. Still hoping we can pick up something better.
Cooper made $3.9 million in his last season of arbitration and then had a down year. Its doubtful he makes any more than that in 2024.
Amazing they’ve had so many recent playoff appearances with their biggest FA deal in the last 5 years being JBJ
Cooper drafted by Brewers 2013. Arnold hired to manager player development 2015.
Would still love to see him come back to the Padres as a DH/1B option.
Between the Marlins and Padres, Cooper has played his home games in pitchers’ parks. Would be nice to see what he could do in a hitters’ park like Milwaukee. I’m not a Brewers fan, but if the team can get him for around $4 million, I believe Cooper would pay solid dividends.
Cooper won’t give you all of Hoskins’ HR potential, but he’ll only cost about 1/4 of what Hoskins supposedly is going to get. Besides, I think Hoskins is gonna end up in Colorado, San Diego or Frisco.
For a big guy his power is far less than you might think. Last yr was a career high 17 home runs. The article says production wise a down year? He had not done any better in other years?
And play better defense. Ryse Hoskins is a horrible defender.
SD has no money to spend. COL would have everyone questioning his home/away splits, and Hoskins wants a platform to be paid off of. SF is possible. I could see CHC, still. Maybe BOS (collecting DHs).
Last year he had a career high in home runs. He played more games than he normally does. For a big guy he has overall limited power. Always hurt as well. On the Marlins I have watched him for years. Strictly should be used as a backup. The stats dont tell all. He can be very streaky and then get ice cold.
Really hoping he re-signs with the Padres as a platoon partner with Cronenworth at 1B. He’s a solid bat, when healthy.
Yelich is a waste of money at DH. But it sounds like he refuses to try 1B. So it’s either DH or contribute to the logjam and play him in LF.