Pratt signs extension for 8/$50M

[StearnsFTW]

20 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Mike Bordick is a crazy pull. Well done.

We're both old enough to remember him.

 

Gold glove (ish) defense with occasional power.   

 

That is incredibly valuable in a shortstop 

[BallFour]

Jackson Chourio 19 years old 2023 wrC+ at AA 109

Cooper Pratt 20 years old 2025 wrC+ at AA 107

The Southern League has had an average OPS of .662 the past two years.

[Klantz27]

2028 yeliches last year feels like the year 

C- jefferson quero 

1B- andrew Fischer 

2B- luis pena

3B- Jesus made 

SS- cooper Pratt 

LF- jackson chourio

CF- jett williams 

RF- sal frelick

DH christian yelich 

Backup C- Marco dinges 

Super utility- josh adamczewski 

Could end up being one hell of a lineup lol

Hopefully we extend all these guys early to lock up a good core for a long time like the athletics are doing rn 

[Jopal78]

12 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

The net present value on Williams deals is 3/$45M. That's a heck of a lot more than 2/$22M

Ashby as a RP in his career - 2.49 ERA, 2.41 FIP, 2.63 xFIP, 1.12 WHIP, 22.8% K-BB

Devin Williams 3 seasons before entering FA - 2.91 ERA, 2.58 FIP, 2.81 xFIP, 1.02 WHIP, 26.1% K-BB

Think maybe you weren't aware how good Ashby has been as a RP in his career. It's right up there with the best relievers in the sport. 

The point remains extensions like these only work out for the team if the subsequent performance warrants the team exercising the club options. It was with Peralta.

I’m positive when Ashby was given an extension he was viewed as a starter long term and that hasn’t worked out, 

This front office doesn’t spend money in the bullpen. So it’s unlikely they’re going to exercise their club options on Ashby at 11 AAV. It’s market rate for a high end reliever especially one who doesn’t close. 

[Outlander]

Ashby's contract isn't market rate, the market requires long term financial commitment, Ashby has one year deals he has to earn the final two seasons. There are risks to the contracts Peralta, Ashby, Chourio or Pratt sign but they pretty much eliminate risk at the back end of the contracta, which is valuable 

[SeaBass]

Just stopping by to say that in 2020 the Brewers paid 34 year old Eric Sogard $4M to play on their team and paid a $500K buyout on a 2021 option year. He had a 51 OPS+ that season. In his 11 seasons he accumulated 7 bWAR. Seems like a low bar for Pratt to clear, it's not nothing, Sogard was earning his keep with defense for the most part but a low bar anyway.

I'm simply not worried about $6.25M AAV going "wrong" for the Brewers. If the Brewers were signing literally every top 10 prospect to these deals then they'd likely be losing money long term but they aren't doing that. Taking these shots on a case by case basis is not going to hurt them even if things go bad.

[CheezWizHed]

10 hours ago, Klantz27 said:

2028 yeliches last year feels like the year 

C- jefferson quero 

1B- andrew Fischer 

2B- luis pena

3B- Jesus made 

SS- cooper Pratt 

LF- jackson chourio

CF- jett williams 

RF- sal frelick

DH christian yelich 

Backup C- Marco dinges 

Super utility- josh adamczewski 

Could end up being one hell of a lineup lol

Hopefully we extend all these guys early to lock up a good core for a long time like the athletics are doing rn 

Unless we trade him, Turang will still be under club control in 2028... 

[CheezWizHed]

16 hours ago, adambr2 said:

My assumption is that 2026-2033 are the 8 years with team options in 2034 and 2035.

Given that it is an "extension", I'm wondering if this starts in 2027?  

[OldHeidelberg]

44 minutes ago, SeaBass said:

Just stopping by to say that in 2020 the Brewers paid 34 year old Eric Sogard $4M to play on their team and paid a $500K buyout on a 2021 option year. He had a 51 OPS+ that season. In his 11 seasons he accumulated 7 bWAR. Seems like a low bar for Pratt to clear, it's not nothing, Sogard was earning his keep with defense for the most part but a low bar anyway.

I'm simply not worried about $6.25M AAV going "wrong" for the Brewers. If the Brewers were signing literally every top 10 prospect to these deals then they'd likely be losing money long term but they aren't doing that. Taking these shots on a case by case basis is not going to hurt them even if things go bad.

Yes, we paid something like $32 million for 2 years of very little production from Rhys Hoskins. It didn't cripple us and even if Pratt busts this won't either. The Brewers need to make these deals when they can for top prospects. Maybe a little early and not the toolsy prospect Chourio was but he isn't getting as much as Jackson so price seems about right.  

[ghostdrew]

So if he came out in this years draft he is easy top 10 so in the long run this is a perfect contract.

[Playing Catch]

I was as baffled as many of us here. On day 1, my instinct is to dislike this decision, but it probably doesn't really change anything substantially, other than you are putting pressure on the organization to possibly promote him prematurely, and it puts pressure on the player to perform at a big-league level this season for a playoff team.

If he stops improving today? He's an overpaid, but effective weakside-platoon utility player that can probably play all seven positions. If he stopped improving today, his contract is an inconvenience, but not so disruptive to payroll and roster construction that it hurts a creative team's chances.

If he continues to improve? A good deal that still has the chance of a GREAT deal, as we're all aware.

Idle thoughts...

- Does this make him more or less valuable in a trade scenario?
- I just can't shake the feeling he's gunna outgrow his defensive utility at shortstop.
- The whole deal just feels like one big hedge against unpredictable future events in terms of payroll, roster construction, and player trajectories. The Brewers are betting that Pratt continues to improve. If he does, it gives them tremendous flexibility on all of those fronts. Based on reports, that seems like a safe bet, so I guess I can get behind this deal.

[CheezWizHed]

It is a very interesting trend that the Brewers are setting (albeit 2 data points).  But wrapping up their high-end minor leaguers for 10 years prior to them hitting the MLB level is a unique approach.  Other teams have done it before, but I don't recall any team doing it twice so quickly.  

I conjectured on our next extensions in my blog post (trying something different instead of a forum post). 

But I was more focused on Made than Pratt.  I wonder if they tried Made and he wasn't interested.  Or if this might come for Made this fall? 

 

[igor67]

Brewers paying for their team for the next 10 years now, Dodgers not paying for their team until 10 years from now  (yes it's an exaggeration)

[owbc]

Mariners SS prospect Colt Emerson just signed a near-identical length contract for $95 million with incentives for up to $130 million.

Colt is one year older, so in the hypothetical scenario that Pratt continues on an upward trajectory, it would have cost double to wait another year. 

Personally I love recent surge of boldness by Arnold. I can count on one hand the number of franchises that can get away with the moves that we're making on the regular. Just in 2026 we have traded our ace, a fan favorite 3B, and now thrown a ton of money at a 21 year old who has played 3 games above AA. Wild. 

[BallFour]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

It is a very interesting trend that the Brewers are setting (albeit 2 data points).  But wrapping up their high-end minor leaguers for 10 years prior to them hitting the MLB level is a unique approach.  Other teams have done it before, but I don't recall any team doing it twice so quickly.  

I conjectured on our next extensions in my blog post (trying something different instead of a forum post). 

But I was more focused on Made than Pratt.  I wonder if they tried Made and he wasn't interested.  Or if this might come for Made this fall? 

 

Who knows for sure but knowing that Made would take up a 40 man roster spot while he is still in AA probably has something to do with it. If they are going to extend Made I think it would come in October or November before the December 1st lockout happens.

[CheezWizHed]

1 minute ago, BallFour said:

Who knows for sure but knowing that Made would take up a 40 man roster spot while he is still in AA probably has something to do with it. If they are going to extend Made I think it would come in October or November before the December 1st lockout happens.

I've not seen that the contract forces Cooper (or Chourio for that matter) on the 40 man roster.  In fact, I'm interested to see the details of Pratt's deal to see when it actually begins... if it is a true extension, it starts in 2027.  If Made is signed this fall, he is almost exactly on the same path as Chourio. 

[BallFour]

4 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

I've not seen that the contract forces Cooper (or Chourio for that matter) on the 40 man roster.  In fact, I'm interested to see the details of Pratt's deal to see when it actually begins... if it is a true extension, it starts in 2027.  If Made is signed this fall, he is almost exactly on the same path as Chourio. 

No it did force Chourio onto the 40 man roster. If you sign a MLB contract you need to be put on the 40 man roster.

[tmwiese55]

That Emerson contract seems to hurt us in negotiations with Made.  I think we all assumed Made would get more than Chourio in a hypothetical same scenario, but the Emerson deal just pressed it up a lot 

[owbc]

Just now, tmwiese55 said:

That Emerson contract seems to hurt us in negotiations with Made.  I think we all assumed Made would get more than Chourio in a hypothetical same scenario, but the Emerson just pressed it up a lot 

Yeah the Emerson contract represents the floor for Made, unfortunately. 

[Playing Catch]

During this recent run of incredible success up and down the organization, I've put aside thoughts that the Brewers have simply become really, really good at scouting and development, and that their models are predicting player development and future performance at such a high rate of success, that it's dumb (from a risk/investment point-of-view) not to try to sign every guy their model says will hit.

I'm suddenly hoping Emerson falls flat. Talk about re-setting the market.

[CheezWizHed]

13 minutes ago, BallFour said:

No it did force Chourio onto the 40 man roster. If you sign a MLB contract you need to be put on the 40 man roster.

Yeah, I mis-remembered Chourio. Maybe of question of whether it is written as an MLB only contract for Platt though. I would imagine it could allow for a split option this year.  But it is probably an incentive for the player to make it a MLB only option. 

[owbc]

10 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

During this recent run of incredible success up and down the organization, I've put aside thoughts that the Brewers have simply become really, really good at scouting and development, and that their models are predicting player development and future performance at such a high rate of success, that it's dumb (from a risk/investment point-of-view) not to try to sign every guy their model says will hit.

I'm suddenly hoping Emerson falls flat. Talk about re-setting the market.

Both of these contracts reset the market in their own way. 

Pratt's contract is an unprecedented amount of money to a guy that is nowhere near his big league debut. 

Emerson's contract is an unprecedented amount of money to a guy with zero service time -- but he just played a full spring training with the big league club and will debut sometime in 2026. 

The question is -- will this catch on with other clubs or are Milwaukee and Seattle the only clubs willing to offer these type of contracts on the regular?

 

[cragi]

I think its more about the increasing trust Mark has in Arnold and maybe the staff has in their own evals. You just dont make a move that sets the market like this as a small market team without his approval.

Who knows on Turang. Maybe they were weighing an early offer but chose prudence until he was priced out of the market. Could have been a few guys who they hesitated on blew up and now they trust their evals a lot more than waiting for them to justify it. 

They've been slow to go all in on anyone under Arnold, and its prevented any kind of big hit to the org that would set the franchise back years.

[beekay414]

22 hours ago, StearnsFTW said:

Probably a dumb (and old AF) comparison, but I'm hoping Pratt is prime Mile Bordick (ish).

 

That would be tremendous value if accurate. 

Bordick is one of my favorite Orioles ever. I was always a weird kid. Yeah I loved Barry Bonds but my other favorites in the 90s were Bordick, Scott Brosius, Travis Fryman, Mike Lowell and Barry Larkin. If you can't tell, I played SS and 3B through early college lol.

[Matt]

Rosenthal: 

Quote

Both the Mariners and Brewers are open to cutting similar deals with other prospects, according to sources briefed on their strategies. Some of those players will resist, and perhaps they’ll regret their decisions if their careers go awry. Others will accept, willing to sacrifice tens of potential millions for long-term security. If the next CBA includes a salary floor as well as a cap, such extensions are likely to become even more common.