April 3: The Brewers announced Friday that Pratt has signed his eight-year extension. He’s been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Nashville. Outfielder Steward Berroa was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
March 30: The Brewers and prospect Cooper Pratt are reportedly on the verge of finalizing an eight-year contract worth $50.75MM. There will also be two club options worth about $15MM per year, though the value of those options can increase via escalators. The Brewers will need to make a corresponding move to add the Boras Corporation client to their 40-man roster.
It’s a surprising, out-of-nowhere extension. Pratt is 21 years old and hasn’t made it to the majors yet. He only just made his Triple-A debut a few days ago. He wasn’t even going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until December of 2027.
Extensions for players with no major league experience are becoming more common but this one feels even a bit more extreme than some of the others. Most pre-debut extensions have been for guys very close to cracking the big leagues. The Brewers themselves did one with Jackson Chourio just over two years ago, an $82MM guarantee, though that one was a bit less surprising. Chourio had finished the prior season at the Triple-A level and seemed highly likely to break camp with Milwaukee in 2024 as he was one of the top three prospects in the sport.
Pratt, on the other hand, mostly features on the back of top 100 prospect lists. Baseball America is the high outlet, putting him at #50. MLB Pipeline has him at #62, ESPN at #70, The Athletic at #99 and he’s not even on the FanGraphs list. He had an okay season at Double-A last year, with a .238/.343/.348 line and 107 wRC+, and only just cracked the Triple-A level to start this season.
Perhaps it speaks to the Brewers being quite high on Pratt’s future. Though his offense was middling last year, the plate discipline was clearly good. His 12.7% walk rate and 15.2% strikeout rate were both strong figures. He only hit eight home runs but could perhaps add more power in time. He stole 31 bags last year and is considered a solid defender at shortstop.
If the Brewers have faith in Pratt’s long-term future, there’s sense in locking him up now. That’s especially true with him being a Boras client. That agency isn’t quite as extension-averse as its reputation but the extensions they have done have almost always been for guys who have reached their arbitration years. According to MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, which has data going back to 2006, the Carlos González deal from back in 2011 is the only pre-arbitration extension for a Boras client.
In that context, perhaps the Brewers felt it was worth it to take a gamble on Pratt, even though he is still so early in his career. If they waited until he had been in the big leagues for a few years, the price would go up if he had any kind of success. From the perspective of Pratt, this is a chance for him to lock up some notable earnings and stave off any chance of a bust. Perhaps he will find himself underpaid if he becomes a star, but he’s not the level of surefire, can’t-miss prospect that Chourio was. He could play out this contract, including the options, and still reach free agency after his age-30 season.
What remains to be seen is how this impacts Milwaukee’s short-term plans. Even if Pratt is signed to a big league deal, he doesn’t need to be on the active roster, as he could still be kept in the minors on optional assignment. Joey Ortiz was their everyday shortstop last year. He put up a rough .230/.276/.317 line at the plate but stole 14 bases and was credited with 12 Outs Above Average. He is still in that job and has a massive .455/.500/.455 line so far this year but in a tiny sample of 12 plate appearances.
Ortiz is still under club control for many years but the club may pivot away from him at some point if he can’t post better offense over a sustained stretch of time. He does have options and could be sent to the minors, or perhaps be moved into a utility role since he has experience at second and third base. Pratt has fairly limited experience off the shortstop position but could presumably handle second or third if the Brewers asked him to. For now, Brice Turang is a strong option at the keystone. Third base is a bit more open, with David Hamilton and Luis Rengifo in the mix at the moment.
Looking further down the road, most of those guys still have lots of club control. Rengifo is on a one-year deal but Ortiz, Turang and Hamilton aren’t slated for free agency until after 2029. Prospects Jett Williams, Jesús Made and Luis Peña are generally considered top 100 guys who will be in the mix at some point. Williams has already played at the Triple-A level, Made at Double-A and Pena at High-A. At some point over the horizon, the infield could feel quite crowded, which could perhaps lead to a trade.
In the near term, the deal could have other notable impacts. With the deal in place, the Brewers may not worry about Pratt’s service time, since he would be under club control for the ten years regardless. The Prospect Promotion Incentive could also be interesting here. Pratt would be PPI eligible since he is on the aforementioned prospect lists. Even though he missed the first few games of the season, it’s still early enough for the Brewers to call him up for a full year of service time.
However, a player who signs an extension prior to his major league debut is not eligible to earn PPI picks for his team. Unless the two sides agree to the deal in principle and then don’t officially sign it until after Pratt’s debut, then PPI is off the table.
Altogether, it’s a surprising and curious extension, one that seemingly leads to more questions than it answers. Perhaps the coming days will provide some more clarity on the deal and what it means for all the other moving pieces in Milwaukee.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported that the two sides were working on an eight-year deal worth more than $50MM, including those club options. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported the specific guarantee. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that there are escalators on the options. Photos courtesy of Dave Kallmann, Imagn Images.
Get rid of Ortiz now and let Pratt play then
Ortiz is 5 for 12. Don’t think he’s going to the bench until he cools off
And his defense looks improved even from last years superb effort, interesting extension
So on Monday he was so HOT he sat on the bench!
I’ve been an Ortiz fan for a long time as an O’s fan. His hitting was terrible last year but I expect he’ll finish closer to 2024 numbers offensively. Whenever the Brewers start Pratt over Ortiz—-I think Joey will get dealt to another team and be a starting SS. All he needs to do is have close to league average offense with his D.
Harry Carey drinking again? And you’re not on the air anymore
The mistake would be rushing him. If they believe in his talent, and they just placed a $50MM bet on him, then they should still let him develop on the same schedule as before.
You’d likely just see Ortiz at 3b again.
Smartest FO in the game.
Guy hasn’t hit much in above Low-A.
I could of course be very wrong, but it seems like a major jump of the gun. He’s been very underwhelming in the minor leagues, and while this would be pocket change for most franchises, we are talking about the Brewers here.
Friggin’ nuts.
If the brewers are willing to commit that much money to him they really must believe he is going to be a special player
50 million to the brewers is like 200 million for big market teams
Nothing extra special about this guy thus far.
What’s this say to the guys currently on the MLB roster who have played and already proven themselves for 2-4 years?
Must be another one of “Pat’s guys!!” smh
SharksFan91
What’s this say to the guys currently on the MLB roster who have played and already proven themselves for 2-4 years?
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It tells them that the Brewers are willing to invest in their young players, and they are welcome to come in and ask for an extension.
Feel free to disagree, but that sounds like a good thing.
@JesseChavez I hear what you are saying, but respectfully I don’t think I agree.
Two club option years at 15 million each puts the first 6 years at 21 million total, or 3.5 million per year. That’s pretty low risk, even for the Brewers, and Pratt’s presumed MLB defense is likely almost worth that alone.. Someone please correct me if I am wrong about the financials.
Worst case, Pratt turns into a defense first utility guy who gets the club options declined and he’s like a 1 million dollar per year overpay. Rengifo just signed for 3.5 mil. I think Pratt has a solid chance of providing similar value as Rengifo. Only way imo this ultimately backfires is if Pratt never reaches MLB.
And if a team does not believe their top 100 prospect will reach the majors, they’d surely trade him while at peak value.
Oh no, worst case scenario is Pratt is the next Scott Kingery.
@solaris haha I thought about him too
It’s 8 years at $50MM guaranteed w/ 2 options that would push the total deal to 10/$80MM+ (since we don’t know the escalators)
It could be a massive bargain but it also has the potential to be a much larger overpay than $1MM per year. For reference Luis Rengifo has been more than just a utility man and he’s only earned $16MM in his career through 7+ seasons.
@mysteryspot
Yeah, I mean even if he doesn’t hit but plays stellar defense I guess he could be a 2-3 war player maybe, so that does have potential value. I will say, the Brewers seem to be pretty good at getting value from players that other teams may have overlooked. Thank you for your cordial disagreement, we need more of that in society.
If you are correct about the contract, I absolutely stand corrected about all of this. However, the article says Pratt “could play out this contract, including the options, and still reach free agency after his age-30 season.” He turns 22 in August, so wouldn’t 8 years take him through age 30? Not 10?
Very fair point about the career earnings. I was more comparing Rengifo’s prospective on field value this season and saying I think Pratt can match that. But I didn’t account for the pre-arb and arb years where he’d inherently cost less.
@jessechavez We sure do. And thanks for receiving the disagreement with grace.
I think we especially need it more in MLBTR comments society. It can get a bit spicy in here during deadline season haha
Yeah, I think MLBTR needs to delete that sentence. Sounds like they were initially confused about the details. If he provides similar value to a Willy Adames this will be an absolute bargain. But I can also understand why Pratt sitting in AAA for likely the next year accepted.
I think there’s a decent chance that he doesn’t see the ML roster this year. From his service time perspective he wouldn’t really be giving up as many years since he was unlikely to earn a year this year. And obviously if an injury happened before his major league call up or he struggles you push that timeline back.
@mysteryspot
No problem buddy, I usually at least try too! I’ve been wrong about a lot haha. Hope your day treats you well.
You as well sir!
The power people projected long term because of his frame hasnt come yet, but his 238/343/348 line last year in Biloxi was actually 7% better than league average by wrc+, and he was only 20.
The southern league is a tough place to hit. Logenhagen, who is the lowest on him put a 50 on his raw power potential, so its in there, and obviously Milwaukee thinks they can get it out of him.
wow
never played a game above AA before this weekend (and hit .238 there, .221 in A+)
he will be kristian campbell 2.0
But Kristian absolutely raked in the minors. A .997 OPS in 2024 with 2/3’s of it at AA & AAA.
ss
“and hit .238 there”
Here’s an idea.
Don’t use a stat that ignores walks and thinks a single and home run are the same to represent a players offense
He was 7% better than the average hitter in AA.
Oh, my. Surprising investment in a guy who batted .238 with less than 10 HR at AA last season.
It’s almost as if there’s more to evaluating a player than two cherry picked random stats.
Best quote of the day. Congrats Sack!
I think he posted the 4th highest RC+ for a player his age.
4th best is good, right?
Seems unnecessary for this player. He’s young for his level but also doesn’t look to be ML ready yet. Good for him locking in $50MM but I figured Made was the SS of the future.
Made will likely move elsewhere in the Infield. Pratt is likely the best SS, defensively of the Pena, Made, Pratt core.
From everything I’ve read. Pratt is a Defensive wiz as short. 9/10. Like a GG caliber in the future. He just needs work on his offense.. which he’ll get there. Made will more than likely move to 2B but that’ll be 2 yrs by the time he gets to brew city
Pratt is major league ready defensively, and there are doubts that Made’s 27-pound weight gain will allow him to play the position. This will take a few years to sort itself out, but in the meantime, both players will continue to develop. This might be the Brewers’ way of telling Made that he can’t allow himself to let his body get too thick.
He can be a utility guy on a 8/50MM deal and it will be a steal. Doesn’t have to be a SS.
That being said, I’m a little concerned about the timing. I’m not a brewers fan, I’m a Red Sox fan, and I see a potential for another Kristian Campbell situation – player signs a deal too early and they can’t back it up.
But hey, could be off here
As a Brewers fan I am struggling to think of a deal like this the Brewers haven’t won. Ashby, peralta, chourio (tbd but early returns are a win). Maybe Josh Lindblom coming back from overseas
Ashby was/is an over pay and not exactly a “win.”
I wouldn’t call it a ‘win’ yet, but he was extremely good last year. If he repeats 2025, it will become a win.
Except now’s when we start getting into the expensive years for Ashby. $5.7 M this year, $7.7 M next. And right now, there’s probably zero chance they pick up the $9 M option for 28.
Why the hell would they not pick that option up? That’s below market rate for a lefty pitching at his level.
If he was a starter, it would be a good deal. $9 M for a swingman? That’s way overpriced.
He’s a lefty who throws 98. He could be a high leverage reliever if they chose to use him in that role. He’s a multi-inning weapon for them now.
Teams would be happy to get that for $9MM. His arm is valuable. Not sure he couldn’t be a starter with his pitch mix either.
He doesn’t have much power but he did cut his strikeout rate from 20% in A ball in ’24 to 15.2% in AA in ’25 all while maintaining a very strong walk rate.
This is why Boras is so good at his job leveraging a promising yet incomplete player.
Looks like a poor man’s Kevin McGonigle to me. His numbers don’t stand out except for high walks and a low K rate, but he was 20 years old most of last season while playing competently in AA. I think he’ll work out, but $50 million is a lot of money given the actual accomplishments so far. The dollars look similar to Colt Keith who has turned out fine, but only fine. However, he’s still only 24.
50 million for a glove first prospect with a light bat. Ehhhhhhhh
They’re gonna shell out another crap load of money to player who hasn’t made his ML debut yet?
Yes, just like Chourio. “In Matt We Trust.”
Yeah right, “Matt” makes just as many mistakes as any other MLB GM. Baffles me as to why and how many Brewer fans buy into Arnold & before him Stearns being some kind of baseball savants. Of course they also believe Counsell & Murphy are geniuses. smh
Just guessing here, but it might have something to do with making the playoffs every year.
Is having the best record in BB still a good thing?
They oddly figured out a way to build a team that does great in the regular season but is brutally outmatched in a playoff series. Their starting pitching doesn’t scare anyone.
They lost to the dodgers just like every other mlb team. They had the best regular season and won every playoff series until facing the dodgers, which is the best of any mlb team other than, you guessed it, the dodgers.
@sharks
Maybe, just maybe, the trust is there because of the results accrued with the limited payroll?
You say that as if Chourio has become an MVP candidate or something. He’s a slightly above average bat regressed a bit from his first to second year. The jury is still out on whether that deal was good or not.
My mistake. I thought the goal each season was to win the World Series instead of just making the playoffs.
Yes, they have done just enough recently to make the playoffs on a regular basis. Yes, LAST season they had the best regular season record in MLB. When you’re that close, why trade the staff ace among other things in the off season AGAIN?! Once again, JUST ENOUGH!
Btw, stop with the “small market” excuse and the front office are some kind of geniuses. They’ve made bad trades and dumb moves just like every other MLB team.
One WS appearance over 40 years ago in the 55 years of the franchise.
Remember L.Urias, Winker, Voit, Blalock, Sobotka, Weigel, Leo Crawford, Rosenthal, etc.among many others ? Still not sold on Gasser, Hall & Ortiz.
I get teams wanting to sign players long-term but maybe wait until they take the field at the MLB level first
Yeah, but if that player hits well out of the gate, their price goes up, and we know Milwaukee can’t afford for that to happen.
Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into a more expensive Scott Kingery 2.0.
They spelled Luis Pena wrong, or forgot to insert Brice Turang and a 1 to make it 8 for 150 million
What’s weird about this is that he if he’s a glove-first guy, he likely wouldn’t profile well in arbitration. On one hand, at 6’4″, he could fill in a bit and develop more power. On the other hand, does he project better at 3B long term?
The whole system is abut to change in 27 and no team is better than Milwaukee at being ahead of the game. If he has a 10 year Craig Counsell career (pretty modest hitting but versatile and top notch glove) seems quite worth it. Way to again be ahead of every other team on market inefficiency brewers. After the lockout, this is a steal.
How do you pretend to know it’s a steal without knowing what the new CBA is? What a ridiculous comment…
Maybe, maybe not. I don’t think it’s a sure bet that everything gets turned on its head, but it’s a reasonable possibility, so from that perspective I do understand the move. Of course, that’s assuming he’s good, which is not a sure thing either.
If he becomes a solid 3B, that’s probably more scarce than a solid SS currently.
All for early career extensions and small market teams being aggressive, but the bat is questionable at this point and a glove-first guy is going to be pennies even thru arbitration. Not really seeing the vision.
Me neither but the Brewers results kind of speak for themselves. Their scouts must be really high on his upside.
At like $6.3M AAV, it wouldn’t really take a lot for him to be worth that contract. If he ends up just being a glove-first guy, it’s not really the end of the world.
It’s not going to be a backbreaker, but arbitration does not reward glove-first guys like it does sluggers. Seems unnecessary, or at the very least, risky. If I’m the Brewers FO I’m more than willing to sweeten the guarantee or drop an option year once I see him succeed against AAA/make MLB. They clearly believe strongly in him.
You can’t just look at it as AAV, you need to look at what he would have made had they not extended him, vs what he makes on the extension. He was years away from making 6.3m a year.
He was probably a year away from even cracking the big league roster
Wednesday is April Fool’s Day, right?????
Good for the kid. Seems real.
Shortstop of the future… Cooper Pratt
He’s going to have to be because they won’t be able to afford anyone better now.
Locking him up because he will absolutely be Turangs eventual replacement. No way Turang will sign an extension because he will absolutely get more then what Adames got.
Made will be Turangs replacement. Turang will want Nico Hoerner type of contract brewers will obviously not pay him that
You could be right i think that 2027 starting infield will be Fischer first, Turang second, Pratt short and Made at third.
Brewers front office clearly has no idea what it’s doing. /s
They are hoping to extend him till he’s at least 6 foot six.
Im so excited by this, seems like an incredible buy low, dudes a legit SS, and it won’t take much power for him to be a 3WAR guy, and if he everyone gets to what people were dreaming on at draft day, while now having surprising plus D at SS, thats an all-star.
Good point on buy low potential. Smart to offer an above average hitting in the Southern League super young for his league, slick fielding, fleet of foot, great build SS before he performs as expected.
Also wondering if Boras starts seeking 50 mil extensions for 50-100 range not for certain minor standouts as he inches closer to retirement and theoretically has more incentive for players to sign long term.
By my back of the napkin math, the Brewers are guaranteeing him $50M now for the right to only have to pay him roughly $10M/year his first 2 years of free agency and $15M/year for years 3 and 4. Could be a huge savings but also a MASSIVE gamble for a guy just starting his AAA career.
Why Him???? With Made, Pena, Fischer and Jett Williams around why would we do this with the only one of this group that can’t hit??? I don’t get it at all
When is he getting called up or do the brewers suddenly have the kind of money that allows for mlb contracts in the minors?
Shocked me
Don’t they have Jesus Made as the future shortstop?
Not necessarily, Pratt is a minor league gold glover while Made has been inconsistent with the glove/arm. Beautiful thing about SS prospects is they can just about play anywhere, and quite a few evaluators have started talking about Made as a 2B, but he can just as easily slide over to 3B.
Its a defensive downgrade, which lowers his value in theory, but if hes just an average defender at SS, hed probably be great-elite at 3B or 2B
Made is also 18 years old. You don’t plan your future around teenagers
I’m pretty sure there are a few exceptions. Such as Konnor Griffin, Jesus Made, Leo de Vries.
Love this deal so much, great buy low on a 60 grade defender at SS. I see Joey isnt in the lineup, hopefully he isnt hurt, the timing is odd
Seems like a good move for the Brewers imo.
I hate contracts like this for any player. I’d hate it for Konnor Griffin. Let players establish themselves at the MLB level without the pressure of an enormous contract.
So you think players don’t put pressure on themselves to be good enough to get a big contract?
This one has me shaking my head. This guy is not an elite prospect, this seems like an overpay for a guy who isn’t really close to being even an average Major Leaguer.
He’s 6’4″. The defense is considered ML ready at SS. The bat must be projected to produce Adames like power. Maybe he’s a Vaughn fill in and they send Quero down Boras client none of the test FA no extension worries.
Yep. The southern league is horrible for hitters. 107 wrc+ is outstanding at his age
And he’s a + SS. Maybe +++
Boras seems to be turning a corner here
The beauty of these extensions is even if Pratt is mediocre, he is still tradable at that price. And if he flops completely, his AAV is what utility infielders get in free agency.
Am I missing something? He didn’t hit well in the minors last year at all? Is he just defensively great or?
Macbeth
Am I missing something? He didn’t hit well in the minors last year at all?
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Actually, the had a 107 RC+ last. That very good for one of the youngest players in the league.
So he draws a ton of walks but hit like .238? I’m not really huge on the in depth metrics like wRC+. For that sort of stuff WAR is mostly my end point.
Not all Boras clients reject extensions. Good for the young man, he’s getting some life-changing money, and the Brewers continue to develop young prospects to keep extending their window of contention.
Great for the Brewers!
So we are seeing a ton of these signings in past few weeks which can only mean teams are getting these contracts in so they are grand fathered in before the lockout and potential payroll cap after a guaranteed lock out goes into effect? Should be interesting to see if more and more teams continue to sign young prospects they feel are gonna impact there major league team.