Former Auburn standout Garrett Cooper will have the opportunity to make the Atlanta Braves’ regular-season roster in spring training.

The first baseman/outfielder and the National League team have agreed to a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to the Braves’ spring-training camp in North Port, Florida, MLB Roster Moves and FanSided reported.

A member of the National League All-Star team in 2022, when he played for the Miami Marlins, Cooper batted .206 with one home run across 12 games with the Chicago Cubs and 24 games with the Boston Red Sox last season.

Cooper finished the 2024 season with the Norfolk Tides, the Baltimore Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate. Cooper batted .310, slugged .521 and knocked in 24 runs in 20 games for Norfolk, but he missed more than one month because of a broken finger.

While primarily a first baseman during his career, Cooper’s chance to head north with Atlanta might be enhanced because of his ability to play the corner spots in the outfield. During his MLB career, Cooper has 280 games at first base, 129 at designated hitter, 75 in right field and eight in left field.

The Braves have Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna locked in at first base and designated hitter, respectively. In left field, Cooper could give Atlanta a right-handed option for Jarred Kelenic, who hit .206 against left-handed pitchers last season. In right field, the Braves have Ronald Acuna Jr., but the former National League MVP’s start date for the 2025 season is up in the air as he recovers from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Cooper batted .340 with a .503 slugging percentage during his two seasons at Auburn. He left the Tigers as a sixth-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013.

Cooper reached the big leagues in 2017 with the New York Yankees. Thirteen games into his Major League career, Cooper had a .326 batting average as a summer callup when hamstring tendinitis sidelined him for the rest of the season, setting a pattern for Cooper’s career.

Traded to Miami after the 2017 season, Cooper played in only 14 games in 2018 because of two wrist injuries. In 2019, he played in 107 games even though he took a pitch on his left hand in his first game off the injured list from a calf strain. In the shortened 2020 season, Cooper missed 26 of the 60 games on the COVID-19 list.

In 2021, Cooper had Tommy John surgery after suffering an elbow injury when an errant throw put him in the path of a baserunner at first, limiting him to 71 games.

After his All-Star Game appearance, Cooper went to the injured list three times before the end of the 2022 season because of a wrist injury, a concussion and a broken finger.

In 517 MLB games, Cooper has a .265 batting average, .333 on-base average and .427 slugging percentage. He has hit 57 home runs.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.