LF Ray Cooper - Career Stats - 6 Seasons - .285 BA, 164 HR's, .867 OPS
Is it time for the most consistent batter in Twin Cities's short history to leave town? Ray Cooper has been a model of steady excellent performance. He's a hometown hero, growing up just a couple of hours in the small town of Mitchell, SD.
He's earned a Glove Glove, a Golden Bat and two All-Star appearances. While never considered the Top Left Fielder in the league, he's always hanging around in the Top 5. The guys just goes out there and plays.
Without an extension, 2037 will see Ray Cooper's first chance at Free Agency. At his current $12.2 million salary, there's a chance he could pull quite a bit more than that on the open market. However, there's rumors floating around he's backed off his initial contact demands of $18 Mil+ per year.... How much? At this time, that's not being disclosed.
With 2B Xue-qin Man and Mark Wareham asking around $20 Mil each for contracts, is it possible that Twin Cities keeps Ray Cooper and let's sparkplug Xue-Qin Man walk for 2037? There's also rumors of Man being on the trade block this season.
If Ray and Twin Cities do come to some kind of agreement, that will leave promising LF Prospect Joey Newhouse available for trade. Joey is speedster and potential terror on the basepaths, who's able to play 3B and Corner Outfield. However, it's possible that the Front Office can find a home for Joey somewhere on the field regardless of the transactions made prior to the end of the season.