NEWSLETTER
With Patrick Wisdom set to open the season on the Injured List and Dom Smith opting out of his deal, it was looking pretty darn likely that Garrett Cooper would make the Chicago Cubs’ Opening Day roster.
Sure enough, Craig Mish reports that will happen:
Mish, who covers the Marlins, probably knows Cooper from his many years in Miami. So I’m thinking the source is probably pretty good on this one.
Although Cooper, 33, was only about a league-average bat last year between the Marlins and Padres, he did crush lefties, as he usually does. That figures to be his role on this Cubs team, with periodic appearances against righties as well. He will split time between DH and first base when he is in the lineup, though Michael Busch figures to be the regular first baseman against all righties, at least.
From 2019-22, Cooper hit .274/.350/.444/117 wRC+. He’s just a good bench bat to have available, and one that assuredly expected to have signed a big league deal this offseason. All is well that ends well, though I suspect his big league rate with the Cubs isn’t up there with what he would’ve/could’ve/should’ve gotten at the start of the offseason on a traditional big league deal.
Cooper is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the Cubs will have to open a spot to add him by Opening Day. We know that Caleb Kilian (shoulder) can be moved to the 60-day IL, and that would open a spot. If the Cubs wanted to add another non-roster player like Carl Edwards Jr., though, another spot would be required.
As for the bench, we now know it’ll include Miguel Amaya, Mike Tauchman, and Garrett Cooper. The final two spots are down to Miles Mastrobuoni (highly likely), Nick Madrigal (assured if he’s healthy), and Alexander Canario (probably only if Madrigal is not ready).
