Like a coveted Yankees prospect, first-year Somerset Patriots manager James Cooper has risen through the organizational ranks at an impressive clip. From the Florida Complex League, up the coast with a stop in Hudson Valley, the 44-year-old Cooper has been promoted four times in four years.
Along the way, Cooper has developed a habit of improving ballclubs and making history wherever he has gone. And with his eyes set on even bigger goals, Cooper is not lacking in the confidence or skills that it takes to manage in The Show.
Originally from outside of Shreveport in northwest Louisiana, Cooper has a familiar origin story: He was a player who never quite made it far enough. An all-conference outfielder at Grambling State University, Cooper was selected in the 33rd round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros. After two years in the Astros’ organization, Cooper joined the Sussex Skyhawks of the independent Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball in 2006, giving him an early look at life in New Jersey.
Ultimately, Cooper’s career would veer into coaching, with all roads leading back home. In 2010, he returned to Grambling State, taking over as the Tigers’ head coach, and the results were instantaneous. Cooper led Grambling to a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship in his first season, earning conference coach of the year honors in the process. Cooper would spend 12 years at Grambling, being named SWAC coach of the year again in 2017, and his experience at his alma mater prepared him well for professional ball.
“I do believe it helped me find out what my ‘superpower’ is, so to speak,” Cooper says, referring to his ability to command the diverse personalities found within any clubhouse, “whether you’re talking about players from different ethnic backgrounds, from different religious backgrounds and then also from the dynamic of the household they were raised in from a financial [standpoint].”
Perhaps it was destiny that Cooper would join the Yankees organization. The history between Grambling State and the Yankees goes back decades, fostered by a friendship between longtime Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and legendary Grambling football coach Eddie Robinson. It was a relationship that extended onto the baseball diamond, with the Yankees facing off against Grambling in a few exhibitions in Louisiana, including once in the spring of 1989. Cooper believes the two proud organizations share a similar ethos.
“Where I come from, we all believe that Grambling is the pinnacle and pride of all HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities], and that lines up with what the Yankees represent in Major League Baseball,” Cooper says. “Whenever the Yankees show up, they tend to get everybody’s best, and that’s the same way we felt at Grambling. That part of Grambling got me ready for everybody’s best when I put on these pinstripes.”
The Yankees took notice of Cooper while he was still with the Tigers, and he would soon receive a life-changing call.
“It was shocking, getting the first call of interest,” Cooper says. That first call was with Mario Garza, then the organization’s coordinator of baseball development and -- like Cooper -- a Shreveport native. “Then I had a conversation with [vice president of player development] Kevin Reese. He met me in Cary, N.C., when I was out there for a USA Baseball function, and I guess you can say the rest was history.”
Reese discussed the team’s organizational philosophy with Cooper and the things that they do inside of the player development department, how they develop coaches as well as players, while Garza talked about a potential path to the big leagues. Those talks further fueled Cooper’s own ambitions.
“Some of those things lined up with what I saw for myself and what my wife saw as well,” Cooper says. “It was a joint decision made by the two of us, and we thought it was a good time to leave Grambling. But it was also tough because I actually cried the day I told the team I was going to take this job.”
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The first step on the organizational ladder for Cooper was not dissimilar from a newly drafted Yankees player, as he began in the Florida Complex League (FCL) at the Rookie level as a defensive coach in 2022. In 2023, Cooper was given his first managerial assignment, leading the FCL Yankees. During that season, his team led the FCL in runs, hits, triples, RBI, batting average, OBP, slugging percentage and OPS, while finishing in the top three in home runs and stolen bases. After the rookie skipper guided the Yankees to the Rookie league’s finals, where they narrowly fell in a best-of-three series, Cooper was named FCL Manager of the Year.
Those achievements all came while making several adjustments to the differences between the college game and a professional setting.
“I think the first big difference would be the technology and all of the information at your disposal, figuring out what to use, how to use it, who needs it, who doesn’t need it and things of that nature,” Cooper says. “You play a longer schedule on the professional side in comparison to the college side. And, of course, the athletes are just bigger, faster and stronger. They’re able to, for the most part, retain a lot more information, and they’re also able to pull that information when they need it. Just because you’re working on all of those things doesn’t mean you need all of those things.”
But a decade of coaching experience set Cooper up for success when he made the leap.
“I think coaching in college has allowed me to be able to be myself and then also relate to all of the guys,” Cooper says. “Just having a diverse team at Grambling allowed me to be a little bit more comfortable in some diverse locker rooms here on the professional side.”
A promotion to Single-A as manager of the Tampa Tarpons would come in 2024. That team led the Florida State League in stolen bases, ranked second in batting average, hits and doubles, and was fourth in OPS.
With each move, Cooper continued developing a familiarity with the players who were also moving up alongside him, working with some of the Yankees’ top young prospects. He believes his work in helping develop those players has given his bosses confidence in him.
“I think that’s why they have allowed me to move up with some of the players that have been some big-time prospects for us, because those are the guys that have the high expectation of being one of the next faces of our big league [club],” Cooper says. “If you’re going to have those guys at those certain levels, you want to have your better coaches with those better guys. So, I think the organization has seen my work, and I think they’ve kind of rewarded me with that. And they’ve also given me a challenge: Hey man, let’s see if you can do it again.”
To that end, Cooper was named manager of High-A Hudson Valley in 2025 and posted one of his most successful professional seasons to date, leading the Renegades to a franchise-record 79 wins. Statistically, Hudson Valley finished second in the South Atlantic League in batting average, hits, OBP, slugging percentage and OPS, while finishing fourth in runs and home runs.
No matter where he has been, Cooper says his focus has not wavered.
“Although the location may change from FCL to Tampa, from Tampa to Hudson Valley, I think the mission still stays the same: Be there for the players, develop and meet the objectives that player development sets out for them, manage the locker room, manage the dugout, manage the game, manage the staff and go out and win ballgames.”
That mindset has now led Cooper to the Double-A level as manager of the Somerset Patriots. But no one expects this to be his final stop.
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Outside of the Yankees organization, others have taken notice of Cooper. He has coached four seasons with USA Baseball from 2018 to ’21. He served as a coach twice in the HBCU Swingman Classic, which was founded by Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. in 2023. And this season, Cooper was selected to be the third-base coach for the American League at the 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game in Philadelphia.
“Having the opportunity to work the Swingman Classic in Seattle three years ago and the Swingman Classic in Arlington two years ago, and now the chance to go work the Futures Game, it’s exciting,” Cooper says. “If you’re going to have the best prospects out there, you need to have the best coaches out there, so I think I fit that category.”
The confidence Cooper displays on and off the field stems from his upbringing. A man of faith and a father to three boys, Cooper says he owes a lot to his former coaches and teachers.
“The things I live by,” Cooper says, “are some of the teachings from my Sunday school teacher, Mr. Wilbur Flanagan, and then also some of the teachings from my head coach in college, coach Wilbert Ellis -- both guys happened to be Grambling men. My Sunday school teacher, he really taught me the difference between character and reputation. Reputation is what some people think of you, but your character is who you are when nobody’s watching. I always try to keep that in mind.
“Although a lot of times my reputation may precede my character, I definitely want my character to be the same when nobody’s looking.”
His players appreciate Cooper’s integrity. Somerset outfielder Jace Avina is one of those prospects who has climbed the ladder alongside Cooper, playing for him at Hudson Valley and now with the Patriots.
“He’s amazing with helping us get better with our physical game and also our mental game, and all around he’s a manager that everybody wishes to have on their team,” Avina says. “He’s been a blessing to my career and all the other players that are here playing for him this year. He’s just an amazing guy.”
Beyond the coach, Avina says, is a special person who has helped him manage the rigors of professional baseball.
“We’re both into faith, and he’s really helped me on the mental side,” Avina says. “He’s always telling me just to stay strong throughout my career and especially during the season. It’s such a long season. Just every day coming in mentally prepared for every single game, that’s something he preaches to us.”
Somerset outfielder Jackson Castillo has played under Cooper at multiple stops, going all the way back to the FCL. Cooper’s guidance, Castillo says, has aided his growth in all areas.
“I learned about being a professional, how to manage your body, how to go through a full season and how to not really ride the roller coaster of emotions that comes with playing every day,” Castillo says. “That just translates into growing as a person, too. A lot of the stuff that he talks about and some of the conversations we’ve had is just more about becoming a better man.
“Obviously, the stuff on the baseball field shows for what it is, but he’s helping people who are in such important parts of their lives in terms of development and growing into better men.”
Castillo says that, in helping with the adjustment to life in the pros, Cooper sets an example that is as meaningful as anything he can say about on-field strategy.
“We’re all away from our families for so long out of the year, and we’re really around Coop and the rest of the staff for as much as we see our family throughout the year, so having people who are so inspirational and people that you can look up to is so important.”
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In recent springs, Cooper has had the opportunity to return to where his professional coaching career began, joining up with the big league club in Tampa, Fla. While he usually only coaches a handful of practices and a couple of games with the big leaguers, it gives him a glimpse of where he ultimately wants to be.
“It’s pretty exciting, but when you do it so much, it just feels like another day at the yard,” Cooper says. “There are some bigger names, and it means a little bit more because of who’s there, and those games tend to count more than the games on the Minor League side, but it also allows you to get that taste.
“One of the goals of mine is to manage a team to win a World Series. That’s something that’s on my bucket list.”
For now, he’ll pursue an Eastern League championship in Somerset, a place where Cooper says The Show also feels closer -- and the gravity of being a Yankee becomes more apparent.
“This is the first place in the org where you feel the closeness of getting to the big leagues with the number of interview requests that are done here -- more than you experience at Hudson Valley, Tampa or the FCL,” he says. “The fan engagement here at Somerset is another piece where it tends to get guys ready. And also, the proximity [to New York]. There’s a ton of Yankees fans in the area because of how close you are to the Bronx, so you just start to feel the atmosphere change.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘intensity’ because it’s not intense to where it stresses you out, but you just feel the pressure of putting on the pinstripes and going out and winning ballgames.”
At every stop along Cooper’s journey, wherever it may lead, that’s what it’s all about.
Robert Hudson is an associate editor with Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the August 2026 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.