Brewers Sign Luis Lara To Extension
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.
Brewers Select Drew Rom
The Brewers selected left-hander Drew Rom ahead of Saturday’s matchup against the Rockies. Fellow lefty Brian Fitzpatrick was placed on the 15-day IL with an elbow injury. Milwaukee had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was needed.
Rom last pitched in the big leagues with the Cardinals in 2023. He struggled to an 8.02 ERA over eight starts. The 26-year-old lefty didn’t pitch in 2024 due to a biceps injury. Additional health issues limited him to seven minor league appearances last season. Rom latched on with the Brewers as a minor league free agent in December.
The results in the minors for Rom have typically been unremarkable, outside of a few solid strikeout seasons. He transitioned to a full-time relief role this year, with excellent returns. Rom has pitched to a 3.04 ERA across 22 appearances with Triple-A Nashville. He has a career-high 33.9% strikeout rate.
Rom’s four-seamer barely cracked 90 mph during his MLB stint with St. Louis. He’s added a couple of ticks with the Sounds, averaging 92.5 mph on the heater. The lefty is also throwing a much harder sweeper. The pitch averaged 79.4 mph in 2023, but it’s been up at 83.1 mph at Triple-A this year.
Fitzpatrick has pitched well in his first taste of the majors. He’s allowed just one earned run across 6 2/3 innings out of Milwaukee’s bullpen. The lefty was optioned in mid-May and had only recently rejoined the big-league squad. Fitzpatrick tossed a perfect inning on Friday against Colorado before going down with the elbow injury.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Brewers Select Brian Fitzpatrick, Outright Luis Matos
3:45pm: Manager Pat Murphy says that Zerpa’s issue is concerning, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The lefty is likely facing a notable absence but will undergo further testing and will get a second opinion.
2:45pm: The Brewers announced that left-hander Angel Zerpa has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 26th, with left forearm tightness. Fellow lefty Brian Fitzpatrick has been selected to take his place on the active roster. Milwaukee has had a 40-man vacancy since they designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment last week. Matos cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Nashville, per the Brewers today.
Zerpa hasn’t been in good form this year, his first as a Brewer. He has a 6.39 earned run average and his fastball velocity is down about one mile per hour relative to last year. Details on his injury haven’t yet been provided but the club will perhaps provide some more info in the future.
Regardless of the specifics, his injury opens a path for Fitzpatrick to make his major league debut, a few weeks before he turns 26 in June. A tenth-round pick from 2022, Fitzpatrick isn’t a top prospect but put up some intriguing numbers in the minors last year. He started at High-A and quickly got bumped to Double-A. Between those two stops, he tossed 39 1/3 innings with a 2.06 ERA. He struck out 28.8% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 7.8% clip.
He got promoted to Triple-A in August but struggled, posting a 6.87 ERA over 13 appearances. He returned to that level to start 2026 and has fared much better, with 10 1/3 scoreless innings. He has a 28.9% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate. His four-seamer and sinker are both averaging above 93 miles per hour while he’s also throwing a slider and changeup around 83 mph.
Swapping in Fitzpatrick for Zerpa allows the Brewers to keep their bullpen balanced with four righties and four lefties, the other three southpaws being Aaron Ashby, DL Hall and Shane Drohan. That’s with Zerpa, Rob Zastryzny and Jared Koenig all on the IL. Since this is Fitzpatrick’s first time on a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be sent back to Triple-A at some point if other guys get healthy or fresh arms are needed.
As for Matos, he was once a notable prospect with the Giants but he struggled to produce in the majors. He languished in the minors a lot and eventually exhausted his option years. Out of options coming into 2026, he got squeezed into DFA limbo and was flipped to the Brewers in a cash trade. His struggles in the big leagues continued for a few weeks and the Brewers designated him for assignment last week.
Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he does not have the right to elect free agency. The Brewers can keep him as non-roster depth and will see if they can get him back on track. They have had some decent results with post-hype hitters, including Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers. With Matos, he has a .230/.279/.363 line in the majors but a much better .287/.345/.505 slash in Triple-A.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Imagn Images