Garrett Cooper Was Liam Hicks of 23, Sold High After Hot Start

Before Liam Hicks, there was Garrett Cooper. 

The Miami Marlins were firmly in postseason contention back in 2023, and Cooper was in the middle of what looked like a breakout season. Coming off an All-Star appearance in 2022, Cooper nearly made it back after hitting 12 home runs, 43 RBI and a .751 OPS in 70 games. 

However, when it was time to improve the team during the trade deadline, the Marlins sent him to the San Diego Padres for pitching prospect Ryan Weathers. Like Hicks, the Marlins sold high on what was clearly a player cooling off after a hot start. 

The Marlins did the same this season when they traded Hicks, their RBI leader at the time, to the Tampa Bay Rays for prospects that Peter Bendix, Miami’s president of baseball operations, took with his top two Draft picks in 2023. 

The Marlins made the postseason with the help of the acquisitions of Josh Bell and Jake Burger. The Marlins are looking to do the same this season while Hicks remains a productive bat for his new team. 

Cooper spent the 2024 season with the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox before eventually returning from baseball after the 2025 season. 

Roundtable contributor Tyler Boronski caught up with Cooper recently, as the former outfielder came to watch former teammate Jesus Luzardo take the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Marlins. Cooper said it was his first time at a big league ballpark since his retirement 

“I’m enjoying the non-stress of playing baseball,” Cooper said. “It’s good to see another side of the game.”

Ironically, Cooper knew more players on the Phillies than Marlins, as Miami went through a roster turnover since he last played for the Fighting Fish. He collected autographs from his former teammates for his child’s classmates and a “foundation that’s for a good cause.”

Cooper said he retired despite only being 35 years old because “the game got younger” and his body no longer held up to the competition. 

“I didn’t perform the best in my last year in the big leagues,” Cooper said. 

Cooper remains a part of the game as a coach for “the younger crowd of hitting and the next generation of hitters.”

“It’s good to have my experience and try to give what I learned during my time playing,” Cooper said. 

The Torrance, Calif. native was drafted in the sixth round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013 out of Auburn. He rose through the ranks in the Brewers’ farm system before being traded to the New York Yankees for Tyler Webb in 2017. 

Cooper made his MLB debut with the Yankees and batted .326 with five doubles and six RBIs through his first 13 games. 

The Marlins acquired Cooper and Caleb Smith in a trade for Michael King leading up to the 2018 season. Cooper battled injuries and inconsistencies to carve out a career with the Marlins, where he spent five of his seven big league seasons. 

Cooper said his family grew up in Miami. He was a part of a 2020 team that brought the Marlins to their first postseason appearance since 2003. He also said his home run in the wild card series against the Chicago Cubs that year was “a pretty big special thing.”

“Miami was home for six years,” Cooper said. “It was home for eight years until we moved up here to the East Coast.”