Brewers DFA offseason free agent signee to make room for top prospect Cooper Pratt

When reports leaked on Sunday afternoon that the Milwaukee Brewers were calling up top prospect Cooper Pratt, things started to look rather bleak for infielder Luis Rengifo. The Brewers needed to make room on their 26-man roster prior to tonight's series opener with the Cleveland Guardians, and given Rengifo's performance with the big-league club this season, it became rather clear that his roster spot would be the one that Pratt would come to occupy.

However, it wasn't yet clear how the Brewers would remove Rengifo from their roster to make room for their new everyday shortstop, Pratt. There were essentially three options for the Brewers when it came to Rengifo. They could either trade him, which, as of today, they could do without Rengifo's consent given that he signed a free agent deal in the previous offseason, place him on the injured list, which looked like a possibility after he was visited by the athletic training staff twice in Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, or designate him for assignment.

Just moments ago, the Brewers opted for the latter, officially designating Rengifo for assignment and exposing him to waivers. After just over two months on the Brewers' big-league roster, Rengifo's time in Milwaukee has seemingly come to an end. Meanwhile, Pratt, who signed an eight-year, $50.75 million contract with the Brewers back in April, officially joins the major league roster and will make his MLB debut tonight.

Brewers designate Luis Rengifo for assignment after signing him to a $3.5 million deal this past offseason

MLB teams are now free to claim Rengifo off waivers, but it's likely the 29-year-old infielder isn't claimed in the coming days. If another team were to claim Rengifo, they would be on the hook for the remaining ~$2 million of his $3.5 million contract. Instead, teams will likely wait for Rengifo to clear waivers, at which point the Brewers will outright him to Triple-A -- an assignment that Rengifo, who has more than six years of MLB service time, will almost certainly reject. Assuming that scenario plays out, or the Brewers skip the formalities and simply release Rengifo right away, Milwaukee will have to pay the remainder of Rengifo's salary. At that point, another team can sign the switch-hitting utility infielder for a prorated amount of the league minimum salary.

Though Rengifo has slashed .205/.280/.254 with a wRC+ of 53 that suggested he was 47% worse than the league-average hitter so far this season, his track record almost guarantees that he will earn another major league opportunity before the season comes to an end. He's not a terrible "buy-low" candidate for a team who can afford to be patient with him as he rediscovers his swing at the plate.

Meanwhile, Rengifo's DFA not only opens up a spot for Pratt on the active roster, but it also opens up a spot on Milwaukee's 40-man roster. It's not a position the Brewers will fill until they absolutely have to, but it's coveted flexibility as trade season begins.

Overall, Rengifo's time in Milwaukee certainly didn't play out as the Brewers hoped it would. The long-time Los Angeles Angel was brought in to bridge the gap between Caleb Durbin, whom the Brewers traded to the Boston Red Sox just days before signing Rengifo, and Milwaukee's infield prospects who still needed more time to develop in Triple-A. While he did bridge the gap, to say he did so effectively would be a lie; Rengifo posted -0.6 fWAR during his time with the Brewers. However, Milwaukee managed to find success despite the lack of production from their offseason free agent signee, and now adds Pratt to their roster while holding a comfortable 4.5-game lead in the NL Central.

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