Luis Lara Extended for Reported 7 years/$31 million

[liveforoctober]

The logic here is so solid for the franchise.

If you sign a guy like Bregman to a quadzillion dollar deal ... the guy has every reason to be de-motivated if he wants. He just signed a guaranteed contract. He is set forever whether he goes Shohei Ohtani on the field or Anthony Rendon "on" the field.

You reward a guy like Lara with guaranteed money but escalate the contract. You now have the player in his prime years with every reason to maximize that contract and earn a new one. 

[cragi]

so stoked. better explains why they've been slow to bring him up.

[StearnsFTW]

31 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Will wait for final word and I know the Brewers aren't the first team to do this ... but they may be changing baseball right now with whom they are targeting.

Bazillions of dollars handed out to guys like Bichette and Bregman and Swanson and (insert 200 names here) only to have them underwhelm. There are so few guarantees anymore with even the stars that they will consistently produce.

If you are going to 'waste' money on guys... why not take a chance on your own? This goes beyond the Made and Chourio and top prospects that are on a rocketship to stardom ... but your "Tier 2" stars - Fringe Top 50 and low Top 100 guys. Be selective but aggressive to lock them up. Hit on a couple, break even with a couple. The couple you miss on it will be so much easier to cut bait or have a tradeable contract so you are not stuck paying a fortune for someone you can't move.

Agreed.

 

I also wonder how this affects them in the Latin American market.   It certainly can't hurt.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I mean, what can you even say? $30 million guaranteed is nothing to sneeze at, and that's a steal for the Brewers. It basically assumes Lara is worth 2-3 WAR over the life of the contract (I know the dollar/WAR figure changes regularly, so no idea where it's at currently). Even if it maxes out at $80, that's like 1.0 WAR a year. 

Hard to not to be very excited about this. Even if it doesn't work out, it works out.

[Bulldogboy]

I like this deal far better than the Pratt one and I like Pratt. It's fun to be able to project what he will become knowing he's here long term.

[Jim French Stepstool]

23 minutes ago, wallus said:

Anyone else ready to plug him into CF and put Garrett in right?

If Lara was here & I had both of them in the lineup on a given day, I'd have Lara in RF. There's a certain amount of recklessness often associated with playing RF & I don't see Mitchell shining in that aspect. He's played there (40-some games as a pro), But Lara can play both spots well & IMO would be a better RF than Mitchell.

[adambr2]

With Lara headed to the 40 and locked down long-term with no service time incentive anymore, it would behoove Sal Frelick to start stepping it up a little bit.

[torts]

Perkins it was nice knowing ya my man 

[liveforoctober]

1 minute ago, adambr2 said:

With Lara headed to the 40 and locked down long-term with no service time incentive anymore, it would behoove Sal Frelick to start stepping it up a little bit.

or maybe start taking some reps at 3b :)

[Jim French Stepstool]

35 minutes ago, KCBrewerfan34 said:

 

This can’t be good for Mitchell or Frelick 

This would be one hell of a (bad) time to deal Frelick if it comes to that; not exactly selling high. Yet if Lara makes it up here relatively soon, you also have Lockridge returning who was versatile & perfectly fine as an extra OF. So yeah, a pretty good chance the phones are heating up.

[Bulldogboy]

7 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

With Lara headed to the 40 and locked down long-term with no service time incentive anymore, it would behoove Sal Frelick to start stepping it up a little bit.

Someone is going to get moved and I'm good with it. More fodder for Skubal packages 

[liveforoctober]

11 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

This would be one hell of a (bad) time to deal Frelick if it comes to that; not exactly selling high. Yet if Lara makes it up here relatively soon, you also have Lockridge returning who was versatile & perfectly fine as an extra OF. So yeah, a pretty good chance the phones are heating up.

Ironically, Sal would be loved back in Boston if they are willing to answer the phone.

Get Mona back here to take over the soft side of that 3B spot for the time being.

[adambr2]

Is the first year of this deal 2026, or 2027?

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

Passan says Lara will remain at AAA for the time being

[GAME05]

This is awesome! Good for him securing a rich future and good for us securing a long-term star defensive CF.

Kinda cancels out our reason to keep Perkins around as a defensive sub.

Hard to see Frelick leaving so shortly after, especially with Lockridge still out. But I won't hold my breath for him next season.

[Brewcrew82]

22 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

If Lara was here & I had both of them in the lineup on a given day, I'd have Lara in RF. There's a certain amount of recklessness often associated with playing RF & I don't see Mitchell shining in that aspect. He's played there (40-some games as a pro), But Lara can play both spots well & IMO would be a better RF than Mitchell.

Disagree. Elite CF defense which I think Lara can provide is so much more valuable. Exhibit A: PCA (not saying he's a PCA level defender, but he might be the next tier down). 

Mitchell hasn't been good enough in CF this year to justify him staying there at the expense of Lara. It could be a huge area of upgrade for this team that has otherwise been very mediocre defensively this year. 

[DonBarclay]

Very hard to see where Sal fits into this roster, short term or long term. His actual numbers have caught up with his peripherals this year, in a bad yet expected way. 

With Chourio and Lara locked up long term, Mitchell clearly being more talented, and Bauers/Vaughn both raking, there simply is no role for him. His roster spot is much better served by a RH hitter, which they have in Lockridge. He’s a 5th OF on the wrong side of the brewers platoon strength, and not better defensively than the guys he’s competing for innings with. Ideally be very surprised if he’s not a part of trade talks soon. Not that he has a ton of value, but someone will be willing to have him come back as a cost controlled part of a minor deal. 

[wiguy94]

10 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Is the first year of this deal 2026, or 2027?

This year

[adambr2]

10 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

This year

So the base of the contract doesn’t really cover any more service time than it would have been going year to year. 

It’s only the 3 club option years that are the potential value. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

10 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Disagree. Elite CF defense which I think Lara can provide is so much more valuable. Exhibit A: PCA (not saying he's a PCA level defender, but he might be the next tier down). 

Mitchell hasn't been good enough in CF this year to justify him staying there at the expense of Lara. It could be a huge area of upgrade for this team that has otherwise been very mediocre defensively this year. 

I agree with you re Lara & CF. I've seen some of the plays he's turned in. But right now I think Lara in RF & Mitchell in CF is better than the reverse, if they were both in the lineup. My deal is more about apprehension re Mitchell in RF than anything else. Just a gut feeling. I could be wrong, but even if I'm right yeah, Lara still winds up in CF long term.

 

[cragi]

it's not like the logjam is going to get better any time soon for some of these guys (Frelick/Perkins/Lockridge). Adamczewski/Payne arent far behind. Maybe Burke or Fischer in the mix.

[Redd Vencher]

56 minutes ago, torts said:

Does this feel like it is happening so much recently because the owners know the length of contracts will be changed as part of the new CBA?

 

What an awesome deal, wonder if made gets a contract this summer too 🤣

Brewers made offers like to Turang, Mitchell, Frelick, and Wiemer before calling them up. They're just getting more bites.

[shanedog19]

Hope to see him up this weekend for the Phillies series. He doesn't have anything left to prove in Nashville.

[MrTPlush]

1 hour ago, liveforoctober said:

The logic here is so solid for the franchise.

If you sign a guy like Bregman to a quadzillion dollar deal ... the guy has every reason to be de-motivated if he wants. He just signed a guaranteed contract. He is set forever whether he goes Shohei Ohtani on the field or Anthony Rendon "on" the field.

You reward a guy like Lara with guaranteed money but escalate the contract. You now have the player in his prime years with every reason to maximize that contract and earn a new one. 

That logic makes no sense. You are comparing a 21 year old being motivated after an extension versus a 31 year old past his prime. Lara is motivated to be the best he can be whether this contract has $1 of escalators of $100mil because he will be a max of like 31 years old at the end of it anyway. He is playing for another big contract either way.

I don’t think anyone lets off the gas because their contract is $10mil instead of $10mil plus another $5mil in incentives. If they have that thought process they probably wouldn’t have made it past varsity in high school.

[Jim Goulart]