Luis Rengifo Designated For Assignment By Brewers To Make Room For Cooper Pratt

The Milwaukee Brewers' attempt to fill third base with Luis Rengifo was a swing and a miss.

For that reason, Rengifo was designated for assignment by the Brewers on Tuesday to make room for one of their prized prospects, shortstop Cooper Pratt. The 21-year-old Pratt, Brewer Fanatic's No. 4 prospect, was officially called up to the majors from Triple-A Nashville and will make his debut in Tuesday's series opener against the Cleveland Guardians. News of Pratt being promoted came Sunday.

The Brewers will be on the hook for the remainder of Rengifo's $3.5 million salary for this season unless he is claimed off waivers. The Brewers could also trade him to another team before releasing Rengifo.

Rengifo, 29, had a solid seven seasons with the Los Angeles Angels as a second baseman and third baseman, peaking with a 2024 season in which he slashed .300/.347/.417 with six home runs, 30 RBIs and 24 stolen bases in just 78 games due to a wrist injury that eventually required surgery.

He signed with the Brewers shortly after the Crew traded third baseman Caleb Durbin and two other infielders, Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler, to the Boston Red Sox for left-handed pitchers Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan and infielder David Hamilton. Harrison and Drohan are currently in the Brewers' starting rotation, while Hamilton has been a nice versatile piece, sliding between third base and shortstop. Hamilton, in fact, was the Opening Day third baseman, not Rengifo.

Rengifo never got going offensively while playing third base as his primary position for the first time in his career. He put together a .205/.280/.254 slash line with no homers and 19 RBIs in 57 games, including 45 starts at the hot corner. Hamilton has made 24 starts there.

Rengifo had a slow start to the season, with his batting average bottoming out at .125 in mid-April, only to pull that up to .188 by the end of the first full month. It peaked at .220 in mid-May, but then went down again.

It was the combination of Rengifo's lack of production and the eight-year, $50.75 million contract extension the Brewers gave Pratt that led to this move. This also coincided with the first day that MLB teams could trade a player who signed a contract in the offseason.