The young rookie standout that the Brewers should try to sign to a contract extension

The Brewers are a young team filled with rookies and second year players. Given the roster construction, it would've been reasonable to expect some growing pains for the team this season. Yet Milwaukee has a very comfortable lead in the NL Central here in the middle of August.

With so many young players and the Brewers eyeing the future, looking for extension candidates is something the front office is always doing. They already locked up one in outfielder Jackson Chourio, identifying him as the clear centerpiece of the future. Which rookie could join him with an early career contract extension?

There's one Brewers rookie this year that's been showing himself deserving of a contract extension and it's not who anyone expected.

The Brewers should look to sign Tobias Myers to a contract extension

On Saturday night, Tobias Myers made his third start of the season in which he pitched into the 8th inning with a shutout. He set a career high in strikeouts with nine and carved up the Reds lineup. That performance lowered his season ERA to a miniscule 2.79. That's the best ERA among the Brewers starting rotation.

It's been no small sample size any more for the 26 year old Myers. He's legitimately proven himself to be a quality big league starting pitcher.

Myers has bounced around in his professional career since being drafted in 2016. He's been traded twice, purchased, claimed off waivers, and released, all as a career minor leaguer. The Brewers picked him up on a minor league free agent deal in the winter of 2022. Now getting his first taste of the big leagues after a long and winding road, he's blossoming.

On top of that, Myers just recently switched agents, signing on with Nate Heisler with Klutch Sports. Perhaps the new agency is a sign the young rookie is open to extension talks.

The Brewers have signed young starting pitchers to contract extensions before. The two examples to look at here are Freddy Peralta and Aaron Ashby. The Brewers signed Peralta to a five year, $15.5MM deal in the spring of 2020 with a pair of club options. Aaron Ashby signed a five year, $20.5MM contract with a pair of club options.

The Brewers could very easily work off those contract frameworks for a similar extension with Tobias Myers. Myers would get guaranteed money upfront after a long run in the minor leagues that would ensure he remains in the big league plans for years to come while the Brewers get themselves cost certainty over a rising young pitcher as the cost for pitching rises across the league and a few extra years of control with some club options.

Myers didn't have the prospect pedigree that Peralta and Ashby had coming through the system, but he's performed just as well, if not better, in his initial major league stint.

For the production Myers is putting up, a five year deal in the $15-20MM range with a couple of club options is something that both the Brewers and Myers should be open to. Milwaukee doesn't like to pay big money for pitching, trusting that they can find guys like Myers to come seemingly out of nowhere and succeed. They invest in a few of them at below-market rates like Peralta and Ashby. Peralta's deal has worked out to be very team-friendly. Ashby dealt with an injury that's hampered his performance.

This Brewers rotation is facing plenty of question marks both now and in the future. Milwaukee could answer one of those questions with a Myers extension.