Tyler Wade for Garrett Cooper

Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman has traded left handed relief pitcher Tyler Webb to the Milwaukee Brewers for first baseman Garrett Cooper.  In doing so, Cashman has reduced the number of “Tylers” on the Yankee 40 man roster to seven.  And because it happened on the same day the defending champion Chicago Cubs made a trade of their own, acquiring a frontline pitcher, the Yankees/Brewers move flew under the radar.  Nonetheless, it’s an interesting move for both teams.

Before we get to Webb and Cooper, we can assume that Cashman believed 142 major league plate appearances between the LA Angels and the Yankees from Ji-man Choi were enough to establish that he wasn’t the answer the Yankees sought at first base.  John Sterling somewhere is disappointed as his “Ji-man is he-man” call was going to be a keeper.

On the surface, this may seem to be a low level, under the radar trade – a minor leaguer for a guy with 6 innings pitched in the major leagues.  But what makes this an interesting gamble for both teams, is how both players went from good/slightly above minor leaguers to having stand out, look at me 2017 seasons.

Cooper was a slightly better than average minor leaguer before this season, when in 2017, he appears to have turned a corner and then some.  With a .428 on base percentage and a .652 slugging percentage in 320 AAA plate appearances, he’s a guy ready for the show.  Eric Thames having the season he’s having in Milwaukee is going to keep Cooper from playing first in Brew town for the time being however, hence their desire to roll the dice and let Cooper go.

Webb always missed bats as a minor leaguer – 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings was his lowest season average – but this season he found his groove.  He posted 12.7 K per 9 in AAA with a 15 to 1 K to BB ratio. 

Bottom line?  I like this move for the Yankees.  Losing Webb is a dice roll as well, as numbers like his are hard to ignore.  He has promise, but was a 48^th round pick and is about to be 27 years old.  That doesn’t read like someone who’s going to go on to really big things.

Cooper’s situation is similar in that he’s 26 and hasn’t hit the big time yet.  But he was a 6^th round amateur draft pick so he was seen as having some promise, but more importantly, .428/.652 is impressive.  That’s someone who deserves a shot.  You know the expression “replacement player”?  As in, your high salaried major leaguer is only better than “X” wins over an AAA player?  Well with his performance thus far, Cooper appears to be better than a replacement player, as he’s killing AAA.  Nobody needs reminding the Yankees have received sub-replacement level production from their first basemen this year.

In addition to being able to play first he can also play the outfield, meaning he can spell Brett Gardner and/or Aaron Judge occasionally.  And again, if we’re being frank, any outfielder that keeps Jacoby Ellsbury on the bench makes the Yankees a better team by doing so.  A harsh reality, but a reality nonetheless.

And despite the clamoring among the unwashed masses for pitching, the Yankees are hurting offensively without Hicks, Holliday and Castro.  The Yanks led the league in runs scored not that long ago but are a mile behind Houston in that department now.  A big part of that is injuries to the aforementioned – a huge part is getting absolutely no production from 1^st base.  Adding a guy with a .428/.692 slash line (albeit in triple A) should help.

Good move for both teams.  Some risk on both ends, but high upsides as well on both ends.

Thanks again to Baseball Reference and Fangraphs for the stats.