{"id":663114,"date":"2026-04-04T17:35:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T17:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663114\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T17:35:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T17:35:21","slug":"brewers-prospect-cooper-pratt-says-long-term-contract-should-take-some-pressure-off-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663114\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewers prospect Cooper Pratt says long-term contract should take some pressure off him"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> prospect Cooper Pratt<\/a> believes the security that comes from signing a long-term contract while in the minor leagues should take pressure off him as he works his way to the majors.<\/p>\n

Pratt and his agent, Scott Boras, spoke to reporters via Zoom on Saturday, one day after the Brewers announced the shortstop had signed an eight-year contract through 2033 with club options for 2034 and 2035. The Brewers didn\u2019t reveal financial terms, but a person familiar with the deal said it\u2019s worth $50.75 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still going to want to go 5 for 5 every day and do all this stuff,\u201d Pratt said. \u201cIt\u2019s just that thought in the back of your head disappears. You still want to be the best that you can be, but there is no more pressure. There\u2019s pressure, but it\u2019s different. It\u2019s fun pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pratt, 21, said not having to deal with \u201cother stuff, all the transactional stuff and just play\u201d was one of the biggest reasons he agreed to this deal, a move that will delay his opportunity for free agency assuming he does make it to the big leagues. Pratt is opening this season with the Brewers\u2019 Triple-A Nashville affiliate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never have to worry about anything like that, pretty much the rest of my life,\u201d Pratt said. \u201cI can just play, play the game how it\u2019s supposed to be played without thinking about it as much, and also be able to take care of my family for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pratt, a 2023 sixth-round draft pick, is rated as the game\u2019s No. 51 prospect by Baseball America and No. 62 by MLB<\/a> Pipeline. Pratt has a reputation as an outstanding fielder; he won a Gold Glove as the top shortstop in the minor leagues in 2024.<\/p>\n

His hitting remains a work in progress. Pratt batted .238 with a .343 on-base percentage, eight homers, 62 RBIs, 31 steals and 67 walks in 120 games with Double-A Biloxi last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in the bat,\u201d Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. \u201cWe believe in the glove, certainly. This guy is really toolsy, too. He\u2019s very athletic. He\u2019s a big, physical kid, so we think there\u2019s a chance to grow into some power. And he can really run. When you have that kind of athletic foundation, it\u2019s a really good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pratt\u2019s decision to sign an extension will delay his opportunity for free agency, assuming he does have an extended major league career. Boras acknowledged that drawback while also noting this contract should help Pratt get the most out of himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt after listening to him and his family that this was a deal that would allow him to be his best,\u201d Boras said. \u201cAnd if we make Cooper his best, contractually the risk on the back side of this will allow us optimization in the next contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brewers would love Pratt\u2019s contract to work out as well for them as effectively as the long-term deal they reached with then-19-year-old Jackson Chourio<\/a> in December 2023.<\/p>\n

Chourio agreed to an eight-year, $82 million deal when he had played just six games above the Double-A level. He has responded by collecting more than 20 homers and 20 steals in each of his first two seasons in the majors.<\/p>\n

At the time of that deal, Chourio was guaranteed the most money ever for a minor league player with no big-league experience. Seattle Mariners<\/a> prospect Colt Emerson<\/a> surpassed Chourio this week when he agreed to terms on an eight-year, $95 million deal.<\/p>\n

Boras says it\u2019s no coincidence that Emerson and Pratt are both shortstops. Boras noted that shortstops are most likely to be offered these types of deals because that position is at such a premium in today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere just is a time in baseball where shortstops and the ability to play major league defense and provide a 2-WAR (Wins Above Replacement) defensively, that\u2019s kind of the assurance they\u2019re looking for \u2013 that I\u2019m going to get a 2-WAR defender at minimum,\u201d Boras said. \u201cAnd then if I add another 1 or 1 1\/2 WAR offensively, I\u2019ve got a 3 1\/2-WAR shortstop, which there may only be less than 15 of them in the major leagues. This is why we\u2019re seeing it happen, because a few men have exhibited this at a young age.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/MLB<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Milwaukee Brewers prospect Cooper Pratt believes the security that comes from signing a long-term contract…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2401],"tags":[5,136,25711,3875,19,843,59,4280,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-663114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-brewers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-brewers","10":"tag-cooper-pratt","11":"tag-jackson-chourio","12":"tag-major-league-baseball","13":"tag-milwaukee","14":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","15":"tag-milwaukeebrewers","16":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116347648338190981","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}