What’s Next for the Brewers Following the Cooper Pratt Extension?
Here is a breakdown of the Brewers' decision to sign shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt to an eight-year extension and what it means for the future of Milwaukee's middle infield.
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The Milwaukee Brewers shocked the baseball world on Monday, signing their 21-year-old shortstop prospect, Cooper Pratt, to an eight-year extension worth just over $50 million with two club options for at least $15 million apiece in 2034 and 2035.
Pratt, a top prospect in Milwaukee’s system, has seen his name rise up prospect rankings since being drafted in the sixth round back in 2023. With just two full seasons of professional baseball under his belt, the Brewers felt comfortable enough with what they saw to lock him up for what could be the next decade.
Pratt has just three games played above the Double-A level to this point, as he made his Triple-A debut with the Nashville Sounds just last week to start his 2026 campaign.
In 2024, his first full season in the minor leagues, Pratt put himself on the map as an up-and-coming prospect for the Brewers. In 73 games at Low-A, Pratt slashed .295/.394/.395 for a 132 wRC+ to go with 25 stolen bases. He played just 23 games at High-A to end the year before spending the entirety of his 2025 season in Double-A.
Last season, in 120 games with Double-A Biloxi, Pratt hit just .238 but still got on base at a .343 clip and posted a 107 wRC+ as one of the youngest players in the pitcher-friendly Southern League.
After striking out 25.3% of the time in 23 games at High-A in 2024, Pratt managed to cut his punchout rate to 15.2% with the Shuckers last season. It was an encouraging sign for someone whose hit tool carries a lot of his value at the plate.
With still plenty of room to grow as a hitter, the Brewers signing Pratt to this kind of extension at this point in his career speaks to how bullish they are on his progression heading into his age-21 season.
A High Floor With Room for Growth
As mentioned, Pratt’s offensive ability is largely driven by his contact skills.
Pratt boasted a contact rate of 80% and a strikeout rate of just 18.4% at Low-A back in 2024, a strong contributing factor to his production at the plate. After his whiff rate climbed a bit upon his promotion to High-A later that year, Pratt improved his overall contact rate to north of 78% in Double-A last season to go along with the aforementioned drop in strikeout rate.
While his approach still has room for improvement, especially as he faces better competition, his bat-to-ball ability is something the Brewers clearly feel strongly about when projecting the type of hitter he could become.
That said, Pratt lacks impact with the bat despite boasting a 6-foot-4 frame. With eight total homers in 96 games between Low-A and High-A in 2024, Pratt followed that up with eight homers in 120 games with Double-A Biloxi last season.
After posting an isolated power (ISO) of .100 with a .395 slugging percentage in Low-A, Pratt finished with an ISO of just .110 last season to go with a slugging mark of .348 in Double-A.
The positive here is that there is plenty of room for Pratt to add strength given his large frame, and while he lacks bat speed, he’s flashed some encouraging pull-side pop at times. While there’s room for growth here, it’s yet to be seen just how much power he will get into as a hitter.
That said, even if Pratt’s power doesn’t develop as the Brewers hope, his hit tool alone gives the Brewers enough confidence that he can become a strong big-league hitter. If he can build upon strong swing decisions and get into even a little bit more pop as he gets older, it increases his ceiling that much more.
Defensively, Pratt is a strong defender at shortstop, which is something the Brewers clearly feel can carry much of his value as this extension ages.
Being able to provide above-average defense at a premier position is valuable in the Brewers’ eyes, and he still has room for growth in that department, too. A smart defender with quick feet for his size and good arm strength, Pratt has the tools the Brewers look for in a future shortstop prospect.
Pratt won the Minor League Gold Glove at shortstop back in 2024, showcasing his defensive ability from the onset of his professional career.
The floor is quite clear with a player like Pratt. His defensive ability and contact skills make this a gamble the Brewers are willing to take, and the organization feels strongly that he can develop even more as a defender and as a hitter.
Brewers assistant director of player development Brenton Del Chiaro spoke to our Aram Leighton this spring about how excited they are about Pratt heading into 2026. He spoke about how encouraging the floor is for a player like Pratt and how bullish they are on his development moving forward. Clearly, this extension backs up those beliefs.
How Pratt’s Extension Impacts the MLB Roster
So, in light of Pratt’s contract extension, how does that impact the middle infield for the Brewers down the road?
Pratt still has a lot of development ahead of him. Having just three games above Double-A to this point, the Brewers are going to monitor how he handles Triple-A competition in the early goings of 2026 and see how he is progressing.
It’s important to remember that this contract extension is a long-term investment in the type of player the Brewers think Pratt can become, so it doesn’t mean that he’ll be up in the majors tomorrow necessarily.
While there’s no reason to rush him to the big leagues, the floor he provides with his defense does give him a path to the majors. When fans can expect to see Pratt in a Brewers uniform remains to be seen, but it will certainly be sooner than many may have thought heading into Opening Day.
Joey Ortiz, who is coming off a dreadful offensive season in 2025, is cemented as the team’s starting shortstop for the time being thanks to the elite defense he provides alone. And there’s a very high likelihood that he turns in a better season at the plate in 2026 than fans saw a season ago.
He and Brice Turang, who is a franchise cornerstone and has cemented himself as one of the top second basemen in the sport, are not set to hit free agency until 2030. Not to mention top prospects like Luis Pena, Just Baseball’s No. 18 overall prospect, and Jesus Made, Just Baseball’s No. 4 overall prospect, are coming through the pipeline as well.
All of a sudden, the Brewers have a very crowded group of middle infielders that will need to be sorted out one way or another.
Turang has long seemed like an extension candidate, but there is a good chance that ship has sailed following the year he just put together. As a Super 2 guy, Turang is in his first year of arbitration this season, and his price tag will be steadily increasing throughout the years should he continue to improve.
After showing out as the starting second baseman for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic and take a leap toward a 4.4 fWAR in 2025, he would likely need to take a big hometown discount to remain in Milwaukee long-term.
With Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner recently signing a six-year, $141 million extension and New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. hitting the open market after the season, Turang could be set for a big payday should he wait out free agency.
Point being, while an extension might still be on the table, it’s not a bad thing to have pivot options at second base.
That’s where one of Made or Pena — or newcomer and Just Baseball’s No. 45 overall prospect Jett Williams — could come into play.
While Williams could have a future at shortstop, he projects as a better second baseman in the long term. Likewise, while both Made and Pena have the defensive ability to stick at shortstop, they could be candidates to shift to third or second base at the MLB level as a way to get all the puzzle pieces to fit.
In the end, having an abundance of talented infielders is far from a bad problem to have. For Milwaukee, this is a situation they are likely viewing as a luxury. The sudden logjam in the middle infield is fascinating nonetheless, though, and it will be intriguing to see how things shake out in Milwaukee in the coming years.
Final Thoughts
Cooper Pratt is a bona fide ball player with terrific baseball instincts, and that’s the type of person the Brewers often seek out. From top to bottom, this is a player the organization raves about.
“What’s not to like? Aptitude, he’s a baseball player, a good baseball player,” skipper Pat Murphy said in his pregame availability on Monday. That about sums it up, and the Brewers clearly feel very strongly about Pratt’s makeup and the development he has ahead of him.
Pratt’s floor makes it easy to see why the Brewers would commit eight-plus years to him despite his inexperience and rather lackluster minor-league numbers to this point, especially on a deal that is this team friendly.
But even though his stats might not fly off the page, there’s so much to dream on with Pratt, and with his strong worth ethic, there’s a good chance he taps into even more ability down the line. That’s a scenario in which this extension looks a bargain.
It’s exciting to see organizations like the Brewers invest in its young, up-and-coming talent, and Pratt is now set to be a future core piece in Milwaukee for years to come.
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Written by
Joey Peterson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an editor for Just Baseball. Joey covers the Milwaukee Brewers, along with general MLB topics…