The Brewers have signed yet another extension with one of their prospects. Milwaukee announced the signing of Triple-A outfielder Luis Lara to a seven-year deal with club options covering the 2033-35 seasons. It’s reportedly a $31MM guarantee that could climb as high as $79MM depending on the option specifics and bonuses. Lara is represented by Octagon.
Lara will remain in Triple-A on optional assignment. The Brewers needed to add him to the 40-man roster to finalize the Major League contract. Left-hander Brian Fitzpatrick has been moved from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. The rookie reliever suffered a partial UCL sprain and is going for a second opinion, relays Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
It has become more common in recent years for clubs to commit to their young players before the make it to the majors, or perhaps after just a handful of games in the big leagues. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, from 2006 to 2016, there were six extensions signed by players with less than a year of service time. From 2017 to the present, that number is 25, with 15 of them being inked in the past four years.
Milwaukee has played a notable role in that data set, particularly in signing pre-debut deals. In 2023, they gave Jackson Chourio an eight-year, $82MM pact when he was considered one of the top two prospects in the league. That was the record deal for a pre-debut player at the time, though Colt Emerson later broke that record when he signed a $95MM deal with the Mariners. Earlier this year, the Brewers signed another pre-debut deal, though on a lesser scale. They and Cooper Pratt agreed to an eight-year deal worth $50.75MM back in April, though Pratt has remained in the minors on optional assignment since signing that deal.
This deal with Lara comes in at an even lower level. The guarantee is barely a third of what Chourio received and just a bit more than half of Pratt’s deal. Coming in well shy of Chourio is no real surprise. As mentioned, Chourio was one of the top prospects in the league at that time. Lara is a solid prospect but is perhaps more of a borderline top 100 guy right now. Pratt and Lara have some similar prospect rankings but the Pratt deal was seen by some as a bit of an overpay.
Lara, now 21, was an international signee of the Brewers back in 2022. Milwaukee gave him a $1.1MM signing bonus at that time. Lara’s size is notable, as he is listed at 5’7″ or 5’8″, depending on the source. As you would expect for such a player, there’s not a ton of power, but he does have speed. He has 447 minor league games under his belt to this point with just 17 home runs but 144 stolen bases. On account of that speed, his defense also receives high praise, with some evaluators considering him a future Gold Glover.
The offense is more of a question. As mentioned, the power is light, though perhaps Lara is building strength as he ages. He never hit more than four homers in any previous season but is already up to seven in 2026, in just 247 Triple-A plate appearances. The plate discipline appears to be strong, however, as he has often posted strong walk and strikeout rates. This year, his first at the top level of the minors, he has a 15.8% walk rate and 13% strikeout rate. Those are both excellent figures.
Baseball America currently lists Lara as the #5 prospect in the system, a couple of spots behind Pratt. That outlet has Pratt #44 on their Top 100, with Lara in the #50 spot. FanGraphs had Lara #11 in the system back in the winter, before he started putting up good numbers at Triple-A here in 2026. ESPN bumped Lara up to #5 in the system in a recent system update. MLB Pipeline has Lara listed #91 overall and the #5 Brewer.
The Brewers presumably feel good about Lara coming up and being a major league contributor. It seems that Lara’s speed and defense would give him a solid floor even if he doesn’t hit much. If he can maintain his strong approach at the plate and add a bit of power as he gets deeper into his 20s, then that just makes the deal all the more attractive for them.
From Lara’s perspective, he is cutting off the most extreme edges of his earning abilities, as is the case for any prospect signing an early extension. If he hadn’t been able to hit in the majors, he could have ended up in the role of a speedy fourth outfielder, which likely wouldn’t have paid him much. Accepting this deal allows him to bank more money than he would have in that scenario. But if he turns into an All-Star caliber regular, he won’t have as much ability to cash in on that. This deal will lock in his age-21 through age-27 seasons, with the three club options taking him through age-30. He could still theoretically get a nice deal at that point, going into his age-31 season, but could have had more earning power if he managed to hit the open market in his late 20s.
As mentioned, Lara is going to stay in the minors for now. At the major league level, Milwaukee has an outfield group consisting of Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick, with Christian Yelich, Jake Bauers and Blake Perkins chipping in on occasion. They also have Brandon Lockridge on the injured list, Tyler Black and Akil Baddoo on optional assignment, and Jett Williams in Triple-A in a non-roster capacity.
In the long run, it’s fair to wonder if the Brewers will trade from that group in order to open up playing time. Bauers is an impending free agent but everyone else is under club control for a while. Yelich’s deal is guaranteed through 2028. Chourio is signed through 2031 with two club options. Mitchell can be retained via arbitration through 2028, Frelick and Perkins through 2029.
For now, the Brewers have enviable outfield depth on a club that has few obvious holes. They have a 41-23 record which is second-best in the National League, behind only Atlanta. Though they will undoubtedly be looking to add to the roster ahead of the trade deadline, perhaps they could do so while flipping out an outfielder from their big league roster as they look for more pitching or help on the left side of the infield.
Spencer Michaelis of the Brewers Fanatic Podcast first reported that the sides had agreed to a deal of roughly $30MM over eight years with two club options. Jon Heyman of The New York Post clarified that it’s actually a seven-year deal worth $31MM. Jeff Passan of ESPN confirmed the 7/$31MM framework and noted there are three club options, with a $79MM max. Passan also added that Lara will be staying in the minors for now. Photos courtesy of Dave Kallmann, Imagn Images.
Who is that? And also go padres
Where are the Padres going?
Probably back to the cellar of the NL West within 2 years or so. We need Elton John to sing The Circle of Mid Markets now.
It’s going to be damn hard for the Padres to end up in the cellar when the Rockies are hellbent on having the worst run differential in baseball year in and year out.
I still can’t believe a team playing in Coors field came so damn close to scoring the fewest runs in baseball in 2025. They should have shattered the 2024 CWS historical worst record in baseball history.
Yeah, it’ll change in a couple years. Enjoy your time in second place fellow Dodgers chaser.
Rockies were so bad ever since the Bryant deal but I do think Depodesta has been a lot better than Schmidt so far
They poached a very good GM from the Dodgers as well. It’s going to take time, but I think they’ll build the Rockies entire organization up to a higher standard.
But it can’t happen overnight.
It could happen a lot more quickly than people realize. Both Texas and Arizona went from 100 losses to the World Series in just two years. Not saying it WILL happen next year, but there is precedent for it happening.
The Bryant deal obviously did not work out, but I love that the Rockies took a shot with him. Cody Bellinger was a very similar former MVP that had fallen off and he rebounded and is not MVP-level anymore, but is still a very good player. The Rckies took a chance that Bryant would be somewhat similar and he did hit well his first season The deal did not work, but I hope the Rockies do not shy away from making a big deal like that in the future. As a fan, I love the effort of the team with that signing.
lol the Rockies need entirely too much. They have maybe 1 core piece in Goodman. I like Dollander too. Ends there. Moniak should be sold off for prospects.
They don’t have nearly enough in their system to make any noise. They’re in a much better spot with their current regime but they’re at least 3 years off from competitive baseball.
And for the next three years the Dodgers are probably winning the NL West. Not to mention the other teams in the division trying hard to compete.
So the Rockies timeline actually is pretty solid if they have a good plan and execute.
The dodgers will always be a problem as long as Andrew Friedman is there and they have a bag of cash at his disposal.
Rox best case scenario is to be competitive in 3 years. They’re going to be a sub 70 win club for the next 2 for sure. Maybe they can get up to 80 wins if everything goes right in 3 years. These rebuilds typically take 4 years before you see on field success
The Padres have been extremely close the last few years. The Diamondbacks went to the world series a few years ago. The Giants probably will be good again.
I think what the Rockies need is organizational stability and strategy. They can operate like the Brewers or Ray’s if they invest into the evaluation and development side of things. There’s no reason they can’t do this. Ownership poached and paid for a long term exec from the Dodgers. There’s little reason to hire him is you aren’t going to utilize his skill set
With the Dodgers payroll, you might as well change that from three years to infinity. No matter how great the plan of the Rockies or any other NL west team is, the Dodgers are not going away. There is never going to be a year or two where the Dodgers are going to be rebuilding and losing 100 games. The system is not set up that way. A “down” year for the Yankees and Dodgers would be winning “only 85 games or so. So if you are the Rockies, you cannot worry about them when planning. The Dodgers are always there, you just have to try and compete like they did in 2017-18.
I agree. But I meant sustained competitiveness, not just peaks.
The Brewers seen to compete year after yea with a lower payroll. But it didn’t happen overnight. You have to set things up throughout the organization and that takes time.
Hiflew is a delusional Rockies fan. Unfortunate.
They are a fairly long suffering fan base. And ownership has tried a few things and pretty much seemed to give up before this front office revamp.
It takes a while to trust a long term process when you’re used to reactionary management.
The rich get richer. And the poor get rich. Fair enough.
He’s crushing AAA pitching but didn’t realize he was so small 5’7 169lbs
It has worked for Altuve for 15 years or so. And it worked for Dustin Pedroia before that. Size helps, but it’s not like basketball or football. Little guys can be the best in baseball regardless of genetic luck.
True, but little guys turning into Altuve or Pedroia is more the exception than the rule, obviously.
Never said it was a negative. Just said I hadn’t realized. Thanks
Interestingly ABS found 5’11 is the most common height for MLB hitters whose official heights are often a bit fudged.
And big guys turning into Aaron Judge is more the exception than the rule as well. Becoming a superstar big league hitter is the exception, not the rule, for every minor league hitter regardless of size.
Pat Murphy was Dustin Pedroia’s college mentor, and loves to work with undersized players like him. The ABS Challenge system is making it easier for short players to benefit from a fitting strike zone.
Yeah I actually just learned the Murphy/Pedroia connection this weekend from the Rockies announcers when Milwaukee came to town. It’s the main reason it popped into my head here.
5 7 trade him to Boston for a cy young contender.
Sounds like Louey needs a better agent. 🤣
for negotiating a pro salary long before he’ll debut with incentives more than doubling his potential earning? sounds like it was a win win
That’s not what Louey’s wife said. 🤣
sounds like you need a better schtick
Can’t afford to keep Freddy Peralta after 100-win season but locking up prospects who have not been proven. Imagine where they would be with Freddy over Sproat.
Agree. Some of these prospect contracts seem unnecessary. The one for Jackson Chourio paid off, but his ceiling was much higher.
Could afford to keep Peralta just smart enough not to.
What happens for 2027 season may change the landscape on the contracts. Already 1 proposal had pre-arb money being quite higher. What if they changed the 6.000 FA threshold to 5.000? The 7 or 8 years now have another FA year already bought and paid for.
Free agency after 5 years instead of 6 is the ace up the sleeve the owners have.
Still in 1st place in the NL Cental? Or are they worse?
still in first but would be further ahead. Sproat is -.6 WAR.
Can never have too much pitching in the playoffs.
I would love to see the Brewers win a WS. And I am a Met fan. But the Peralta trade was bad for baseball. I still think they will win the division but imagine going into playoffs with Peralta/Miz? Lookout.
Sproat doesnt have to be SP for the Brewers in this year’s playoffs. Harrison has taken the Peralta roll. Woodruff can a appear in September and contribute like the 2 Dodgers pitchers did last season. Sproat along with J.Williams are around beyond this season until traded or becoming a FA, and heaven forbid so bad they are DFA. Something Joey Ortiz has defied odds being done still.
Brandon Woodruff is working his way back to rejoining the rotation for the second half. A big three of Miz, Harrison and Woodruff wouldn’t be too shabby.
U of F pitchers are never good. Brady Singer is the best pitcher theyve ever produced. With Desclafani being second. Not exactly an elite group.
You’re forgetting about Darren O’Day, Doug Corbett. and Rob Murphy
Brandon Woodruff will be a viable postseason option. And when he’s right, he can command the strike zone even with a drop in velocity.
@josh. Word, forgot O’Day. He’s actually the best by war of the bunch even though he was undrafted out of college. Corbett and Murphy weren’t very impressive.
I imagine they would be dominating the Central once again. Obviously you’re a successful business tycoon and understand how the Brewers gather talent. Or just another fair weather pessimist who finds the dark clouds on a sunny day. Every star was a prospect at one time in their career.
The wheels are starting to come off on Peralta..they got rid of him at the right time.
Freddy is now 4-5 on the year with an ERA above 4 after tonight’s disaster of an outing. I think the brewers front office knows what they are doing more times than not. Devin Williams has been bad, dont wish injury on anyone but Corbin Burnes is going on missing 1.5 years after we traded him.
Burnes wouldn’t have missed a single start for the brewers like he didn’t for the orioles. They were never going to resign him.
At this rate Nashville is going to have a higher payroll than Milwaukee.
.238 xBA. And he hasn’t homered since May 6.
He’s a young 21 y.o. getting his feet wet in AAA. More BBs than Ks with a .447 OBP and .947 OPS. Perhaps he’s not working on hitting longballs yet.
Color me skeptical. The road to stardom is strewn with guys like this who get the bats knocked out of their hands in the majors
Who said Lara is destined for stardom? According to MLB pipeline, he’s the Brewers’ 5th best prospect and 91st overall. All he has to do is play above average to justify the contract. Most prospects, even some highly-touted ones, fail. This is a long-bet and the deal isn’t going to cripple any franchise if it doesn’t work out. Again, it’s not typical for 21 year olds to be thriving at the AAA level.
He’s Sal Frelick 2.0
Small lefty, with good on base skills, Gold Glove defense and good speed.
Frelick has already been worth 5.9WAR in 405 career games, with a career OPS under .700. He would already have covered $31M in the cost this deal with roughly 4 years left on the deal.
No brainer “risk” for the Brewers
He’s a switch hitter.
Even better.
Just jettison Perkins and Rengifo for Lara and Pratt. Lara must be hitting the ball with high exit velocities since Brewers have witnessed the decline of short players, Durbin, Frelick, and Ortiz average below MLB avg EVs.
Just not a fan of deals like these. Someone is guaranteed to be unhappy about this deal in 5 years either the team or the player. Let the guy prove himself for a couple years and then offer him a contract at a small discount. Not a fan.
One no vote on corporal-captain. Got it.
I mean, nobody forced the player to sign it. Meaning, I’d say that their agent likely told them they could be missing out on a good pay day by not signing it, and they chose to be happy with the guarantee that they got. I’d say he’s happy. Or else he wouldn’t have signed it. The team is taking a gamble, but one they feel is safe and are good with the risk on if he doesn’t pan out. I’d say the fact that both are currently happy with the deal is all that matters.
Yes, but he should also realize that many of these players that sign these early contracts can flame out and not make it (Campbell, Singleton, et cetera). He is basically taking guaranteed money because he doesn’t know what the future holds (obviously).
I continue to speculate that the outbreak of early contracts going out now is going to be followed by an outbreak of holdouts and trade demands five or so years from now. You’re right, one or two of these guys are going to feel shafted in the long run, and what do athletes do when they feel shafted
Let me guess: it’s because the players “only care about themselves” and “can’t put aside their egos for the good of the team”
In 5 years he would still be in his arbitration years and making pennies. He’s now making millions and doesnt have to worry about that.
Hard to find comparable centerfielders at 5’7, but I learned that Kirby Puckett was 5’6 and Tim Raines was 5’8
Hack Wilson and Billy Hamilton (.344 BA and 914 SBs) were both 5’6″ CFers. Brett Butler, Shane Victorino, and Cedric Mullins are 5’10” and under.
Now bring him up and option Perkins asap
Would like to see Lara, Pratt, etc. in the majors but would also like to make sure they get playing time. Williams and Pratt are probably first in line given lack of offense at 3B and SS. Meanwhile, the Brewers now hold a ton of position-player trade chips if they decide to strengthen their rotation depth. (Skubal, anyone?)
Skubal could be a really interesting play. I would assume DET would want Lara over Pratt + significantly more but MIL could do it if they wanted to.
Could, yes. Should? No. Dont build up years of prospect depth for a few months of a pitcher coming off an injury (even if his rehab has gone well). The Brewers are built for sustained success. I want them to stick to the apparent plan.
Brewers are built to lose in the early rounds of the playoffs like every other year. Gobbling up defense first little bat players will never win a WS
They made it to the NLCS last year while ZIPS and Pecota projected them to win 80-84 wins last year. And their minor league talent is top notch. They’ll be fine. That said its really damn hard to make it to the WS and win and if thats how you judge success then 98% of teams suck by your standards
Joe Ryan would be a better choice.
How is this guy more of a priority than jacob?
How do you know what’s happening behind the scenes with Miz? Besides, by today’s standards $4.5 million a year for Lara’s future services is probably a bargain.
Why would Jacob want to commit to an Extention before 2027 lockout potential, or new rules on pay? Miz is top 10 MLB SP right now. He should be seeking a higher payday than the one Freddy Peralta is rumored asking for. Think if you were Miz Agent. Brewers FO on line looking to discuss an Extension. Agent’s response has to be, tell them I’ll call them when we want to talk about one. Miz just had a .2 ERA for the month of May. 150 Mil just became 240M. Go under 1 ERA any other month this season, its 300M-420M..
The universal fear for Miz is a torn UCL, which could knock two seasons off the heart of his career. I’m sure the Brewers aren’t second-guessing their trade of Corbin Burnes, and they might be thinking along the same lines with Miz.
The Brewers are one of the best at calculating risk/reward.
Miz will make money on sponsoship deals enough to be happy until his massive payday comes, but I am positive the team and agents are in the ear about some kind of insurance on the arm of the hardest throwing pitcher in the game in the form of a contract.
The Brewers are building a young team with contractual staying power around Chourio. The lineup could be Chourio LF, Lara CF, Luis Pena RF, Jesus Made 3B, Cooper Pratt SS, Brice Turang or Pena 2B, Andrew Fischer 1B, William Contreras or Marco Dinges C, Blake Burke or Luke Adams DH. Braylon Payne could emerge as the CF, with Lara serving as the RF or a backup.
While I would love to see that as a Brewer fan, I’ve had to come to grips with the fact that Turang is not going to be here long term. He’s playing so fantastic that there’s almost no way we’re going to be able to pay him when it’s time to do so. Boy I hope I’m wrong but I don’t see it. I’m starting to even have doubts now about whether they’re going to sign Wild Bill to an extension or they would have done it by now. He’s more than earned an extension at whatever his asking price based on his offense, his defense and how well he’s worked with our younger and older pitchers. He’s been a God send.
Turang isn’t eligible for free agency until 2030. Contreras could walk after ’27. Meantime, MLB will be hammerin’ out a new labor deal that could require the Brewers to spend up to a new payroll floor. Turang and Contreras would be first in line for extensions if the team goes that route. They would be the two cornerstones of a young team built around Chourio.
I believe the Brewers know exactly what they are doing. Like the Dodgers, and very few other teams, they are preparing for whatever happens with the next CBA.
With some of these moves, they’ve locked in future talent while keeping the big team viable for the postseason. I really enjoy watching how they operate their organization.
Andrew Friedman was Matt Arnold’s mentor with the Rays. The Tampa Bay model has served the Brewers well.
Good info Jim.
Regardless of the money spent, you can count on their organizations to make smart moves that take the short, mid, and long term into account.
It does require a different approach as a fan watching it happen. But I enjoy watching baseball chess.
When a kid comes up poor, 30 million dollar is a hunk of money
$30M is a hunk of money for anyone, even if you came up poor.
300 years of a 100k salary. I dont care who you are, you are set for life if you play your cards right.
These are the types of deals middle markets should be making to their non-top prospects.
The risk is fairly low in this case and with Pratt as they are both in AAA.
Seems to be only upside for the Brewers. Good for them and Lara for guaranteeing generational money.
Most organizations don’t spend on evaluation or development. This makes it hard for them to know what they have in house.
Which is why the smart teams usually win trades.
A Lara. 5 7 not much power yet. Easy to take that $.
C Milwaukee. CF is hard to find. Glove alone might be worth it. He doesn’t K much. Looks to walk. Good enough chance they get some real surplus.
Teams that give out these contracts without prove yourself in MLB level first deals can get stung.
always remembered Houston giving it to Jon Singleton
Then there is Boston with Kristian Campbell, Rusney Castillo
and then there is also Evan White
There are players once they bag the $$$$ their stats go south.
Will see about recent ones like McGonigle, Emerson, and Griffin – so far so good with these in their rookie years
The only success beyond rookie year has been Jackson Chourio
Ceddanne Rafaela’s 8 year/$50M extension (with team option for 9th year) is looking good.
Instead of having to worry about their players aging, the Brewers approach talented players from the other side. They have become proficient at projecting growth given their staff’s ability to develop it. Exhibit A is Brice Turang, a skinny kid with a baseball background whom the Brewers drafted in the first round in 2018. Eight years later, Turang is wowing WBC teammate Aaron Judge for his ability to launch baseballs farther than him. I never saw power potential in Turang or Lara, but I love to believe in the Brewers. They rarely disappoint.
That’s a bigger hack than spending a lot on payroll. And affordable.
But most teams won’t make the investments needed in money and patience. Or they let politics hire and keep the wrong people at the decision making positions.
Saying Perkins is “chipping in on occasion” just tells me whomever wrote this story has never seen the Brewers play. Absolutely nothing he’s done this year could constituted as “chipping in”
People complain about the Dodgers signing players to large contracts.
Then they complain about the Brewers signing their top in house prospects to lower cost controlled contracts.
Are the Brewers ruining baseball too?
So confusing.
Both are on the extremes just on different ends
Idk if id say extremes when comparing 3 long term deals to milb guys in 3 years (Chourio, Pratt, Lara) vs the billions spent by the Dodgers in 2 off-season lol
ohyeadam
I can’t reply to you?
Sure you can
While I don’t think either are ruining the game I do believe both will wish they hadn’t mad some of these signings. Especially the Brewers as they’re not likely to ever go to the WS due to LADs presence
All it takes is one bad series from LAD to not make it. They aren’t going to win 6 WS straight
ohyeadam
For some reason there is no reply button for you, as if you have me muted. But since you’re replying to me, obviously I’m not muted by you lol
This kid gives me Lorenzo Cain vibes. Excellent CF defense and a decent bat with good wheels. He may not be a 120 OPS+ kind of hitter in the majors, but as long as he stays on the good side of 100 he will be a valuable player.
Some ppl are saying well why haven’t they extended Made?? Well I’m sure they offered him one well before Pratt signed an extension
Not every high end prospect will sign an extension.
Made is still in Double A, so there is time to collect more information about him. Pratt and Lara are soon to become major leaguers. If Sal Frelick doesn’t start producing, he could soon become a minor leaguer.
If MLB strikes does the MiLB also strike? If not, do these guys (in the minors but on MLB deals) get paid next year?
MiLB is separate and they can still play