^Matt Arnold when he signs another top prospect to a long term deal before they play an inning of Major League Baseball.
So, before the season started, Arnold inked shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt to an 8 year deal worth $51 million dollars. Now? 21-year old outfield prospect, Luis Lara. Lara signs a 7 year deal worth $31 million guaranteed, and the club has 3 option years ON TOP OF the 7 years, that could make the deal worth up to $80 million.
A couple of things:
- Like we talked about when they did this with Cooper Pratt, this is the way a small market team needs to do business in baseball if they feel like a prospect is going to live up to his potential. It’s a future bet! The Brewers are saying, “we think this kid is going to hit, and we want team control of him for more than the traditional 6-7 seasons.” That young man gets a NICE chunk of change, way more than he’d get at the minor league level or in the first few years of playing at the major league level, and if he hits, the Brewers get a cheap/team friendly deal as the contract ages.
- Making two of these moves this season leads me to believe that Arnold and the Brewers think there is no chance a salary cap becomes a part of the next labor deal. I know the owners are angling for it for the first time since 1994, but I don’t think the Brewers, or any franchise, would continue to sign these types of contracts if they felt like a cap was coming. Like we said above, this is how a small market team makes moves in a world without a salary cap. If they felt like a cap was imminent, they’d hold of on these types of moves until that was in place.
So, now that he’s signed, and they added him to the 40-man roster, is there a chance we see Lara this season? I think we do. It’s more likely than seeing Pratt this season, in my opinion. I know people are frustrated with the lack of any kind of offensive production on the left side of the infield, but I don’t think Murph is going to want to hand the everyday shortstop job off to a 21-year old kid. Especially considering this team feels like it can compete for a title. My guess is he’s going to stick with some kind of Hamilton/Ortiz platoon, which means we have to live with Ortiz continuing to strand the bases loaded for the rest of the summer.
But Lara is an outfield prospect, and it feels like there is FAR more opportunity to get him involved in left or right field. Plus, he’s raking at AAA Nashville. Pratt has been better lately, hitting .252 with 6 home runs, but Lara is hitting .338 with 7 bombs and 27 driven in. He’s been consistently producing all season. I realize they don’t want to call a kid up and not have him get regular at bats, but now that you’re paying him, the ‘clock’ doesn’t really matter. I like Blake Perkins as a person, I think we all do, but he’s hitting .110. .110! Yovani Gallardo looks like Tony Gwynn by comparison. So I think Lara takes that Perkins spot sooner rather than later.
PS: I am once again asking for this franchise to sign Brice Turang to a long term extension. I know it is increasingly unlikely, and they don’t technically have to do anything for the next couple of seasons if they don’t want to, but I will continue to beat that drum.
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