Why Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt were Brewers' perfect candidates for contract extensions

There's undoubtedly risk involved in signing a baseball player who has yet to make their MLB debut to a seven- or eight-year contract extension. Many players throughout history have found a great deal of success in the minor leagues, only to hit a wall when they reach the majors. The big leagues are simply a different tier of baseball, and until a player consistently faces major league competition, uncertainty will always exist about their future in the sport.

However, at the same time, extending a player prior to their MLB debut can result in organizations ending up with very team-friendly contracts through the prime years of a player's career. See, while there's risk involved in handing a long-term deal to a prospect, some of that risk is inevitably baked into the financials of the contract.

Take, for example, the contract that 2023 MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. is currently playing on. Despite being 28 years old, and already a 5x All-Star, Acuña is making just $17 million in his ninth year in the league, because the Atlanta Braves signed him to an eight-year, $100 million contract before his second season in MLB. A player of Acuña's caliber -- at least a 4-5 WAR player when healthy -- would cost upwards of $30-40 million on the free agent market, which is where the Braves' outfielder would have landed before last season had he not been locked into a long-term contract.

The Milwaukee Brewers are hoping that Jackson Chourio's contract will end up looking similar to Acuña's in a few years' time. Already, Chourio's eight-year, $82 million deal looks like a steal for the Brewers, but if the young outfielder reaches his max potential, things will only look even better. And yet, there's still risk from the club's perspective. Just look at Acuña, who has spent much of the last two and a half seasons on the injured list. Though Atlanta certainly wouldn't take back the contract, their surplus value has been limited by Acuña's time spent on the IL -- a risk that can always hamper a long-term deal.

However, the upside of hitting on one of these contracts, especially with the uncertainty of MLB's ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreements, is too much for a club like the Brewers, who are constantly looking for ways to maximize surplus value, to ignore. As a result, the Brewers have agreed to long-term deals, similar to but less expensive than Chourio's, with top prospects Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara this year. While the aforementioned risk is certainly present, and heightened by the fact that Pratt and Lara were farther from their debuts when they signed their contracts than Chourio was when he signed his deal, the Brewers have elected to extend two players who are almost bound to avoid a scenario in which the long-term deals that they signed end up looking bad for the organization.

Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt's defensive, baserunning excellence lowers the risk associated with their contract extensions

The concern when agreeing to long-term contracts with players prior to their MLB debuts, or any player for that matter, is that the value of the player won't live up to the value of the deal. Whether it's caused by an injury or underperformance, prospects turning into low-value players is unsurprisingly how these deals start to look bad for the organization.

However, in Pratt and Lara's case, there's one reason to believe that both will be valuable big leaguers when they eventually make their MLB debuts: both players have incredibly high floors. The value that both Pratt and Lara add on the defensive side of the ball lowers the chance that the value of their contracts will ever far outweigh the value they provide on the field. Both Pratt and Lara have won minor league Gold Glove Awards, which is an honor made more impressive by the fact that all of minor league baseball is taken into account when voting occurs. In other words, Pratt and Lara have at various points been deemed the best players at their positions in all of minor league baseball.

Pair that defensive acumen with the fact that both Lara and Pratt are excellent baserunners, and their floors at the big-league level look even higher. Pratt stole 27 and 31 bases in the 2024 and 2025, respectively, and Lara stole an unbelievable 99 bases during that time. Both players have the ability to post 2-3 WAR simply due to their defense and baserunning alone. Assuming they continue to develop as hitters and offer above-league-average offensive production, things start to look rather favorable for the Brewers when it comes to each of their contracts.

The final component of dishing out long-term contracts to prospects is ensuring that the right players are being bet on. Pratt's work ethic, dedication, and love for the sport have constantly been talked about throughout his time in the Brewers' organization, and earlier today, when talking to the media, it became clear that Lara shares a similar mindset. When Lara was asked about how difficult it was to sit out the last few days as the contract situation played out, translator Julio Borbón relayed the response saying about Lara, "He definitely missed those days playing...He loves playing the game. It's one thing he's always taken pride in and enjoyed and had fun doing. He loves to win."

Lara's mentality fits perfectly with the Brewers and manager Pat Murphy's mindset. Murphy constantly talks about how having players in the clubhouse who take pride in themselves and are hungry to play and win every day has been a key to the Brewers' recent success. Lara, and Pratt for that matter, certainly have that dedication and desire for success in them, which, paired with their "toolsy" profiles made them perfect extension candidates for the Brewers.

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