Brewers Officially Call Up Cooper Pratt, Designate Luis Rengifo for Assignment

The Cooper Pratt Era (such as it may be) will begin in earnest Tuesday night. The Brewers plan to start Pratt at shortstop for his major-league debut, and in making room for him on the active roster, they designated infielder Luis Rengifo for assignment. That it's Rengifo's place on the team Pratt is taking is no surprise, but it's of some interest that the veteran has been told to pack his bags, rather than being stashed away on the injured list.

It looked as though Rengifo might have an injury worthy of a stint on the shelf, necessitating and facilitating Pratt's promotion. That would have kept the team's powder dry, holding onto Rengifo and keeping him in the mix with incumbent infield options Joey Ortiz, David Hamilton and Pratt, depending on how things develop from here. Instead, Rengifo is now effectively gone. That makes this move a bit more commital than it looked at first glance.

Pratt is, effectively, taking over at shortstop, making (semi-)permanent the platoon of Ortiz and Hamilton at third base. This locks everything into place a little more than we might have anticipated. A roaring surge or a calamitous slump by either Ortiz or Hamilton could still change the equation. So could Jett Williams turning it on at Triple-A Nashville. Tentatively, though, it sure looks like the team plans to proceed from here with their freshly extended rookie at short and two players working in a complementary role next to him.

There's a little risk here that wasn't there if and when one envisioned Rengifo landing on the injured list. It's not as easy, now, to foresee the team optioning either Ortiz or Hamilton if their performance demands it. The front office is gambling a bit, because this can no longer be an audition of a few weeks or a month. The Brewers need some mileage from Pratt, and their hopes for stabilizing the bottom end of the batting order now rest on the trio of Pratt, Ortiz and Hamilton. 

Rengifo could pass through waivers, given the money still owed to him, but it's unlikely that he'll have interest in going to Nashville. At this point, it seems like the Brewers can hope only to save a morsel of the money they still owe to Rengifo after signing him for $4 million over the winter. They're jettisoning him in the name of making the runway from which Pratt's career will take off as clear as possible. It was already exciting to see Pratt called up. Now, it's also intriguing, and a little bit risky. The upside for his team just rose considerably. Its floor might have dropped a bit, though. The club will hope the latter never comes into play.