Brewers infield prospect Cooper Pratt (Milwaukee's No. 4 prospect, No. 60 overall in MLB) was back in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday morning, ready to resume play for Triple-A Nashville after finalizing a new eight-year contract on Friday that carries significant risk and reward for both sides.
Here are some excerpts from a Q&A with Pratt and his agent, Scott Boras, about all of the factors they weighed before agreeing to sign. Some of the answers are edited for length.
Why was this the right decision at this time?
Pratt: “I feel like in my heart, I made a good decision. We thought about it, we prayed about it, and we're super excited to be able to do this with the Brewers to be able to hopefully be a longtime Brewer, for sure.
“I mean, just the security. I'll never have to worry about anything like that, pretty much, for the rest of my life. I can just play, and play the game like how it's supposed to be played, and not think about it as much. And also be able to take care of my family for generations. Me and my family, we thought about it, and we just came to the conclusion that this was the right decision for me at this time. We couldn't be happier. We love the organization. We love everything about what the organization does and all the guys. We're just pumped.”
Who did he consult during the process?
Pratt: “‘Murph’ [Brewers manager Pat Murphy] and Matt [Arnold, the team’s president of baseball operations] came up to me in Spring Training, and from there, obviously, I talked to S.B. [Boras] and the guys at the Boras Corp. and heard everything that they had to say. I talked to [Christian] Yelich a little bit, and some of the guys in the clubhouse, just trying to hear everything before I made that decision. It was hard, but ultimately, hearing everything that had to be said was very beneficial. Hopefully it turns out to be a win-win for both the organization and me.”
What about the agent’s point of view?
Boras: “The hardest part for Cooper was that he had to deal with his attorney giving him reams of data so that he could look at a historic view of those who didn't take extensions and those who did, and why he felt he should. What was important to me was the confidence that Cooper had in his development [and] the confidence that the Brewers had in Cooper. They were unified at a very early age in his career, because they knew he could play defense at the Major League level now.”
How did Pratt convince his agent that this was the right call?
Boras: “Cooper did an amazing job of talking about how he approaches the game, what this stability would mean to him, what freedom he would have in how he thinks and how he approaches the game. And in listening to this, it was very clear to me that if he had this foundation, it was going to allow him to really open up a corridor to advancement. That was concerning to him in the moment, and alleviating that concern -- because contracts do a lot of things for a lot of people. A lot of people have reasons: ‘I have to take care of my family. I have to do things.’ You know, Cooper’s mother is a doctor. His father is a CPA. They have a very successful family. But for him, this is something that allowed him to explore a corridor where he could go out and risk and seek optimization without restraint.
“When I heard that, [I believe] we will end up with a better player on both sides and a more advanced player and potentially a star-level player, which then will justify the contract concerns I have when you are essentially doing a contract like this that will have substantial economic benefits for the team and delay his free agency. So, believing that this would allow him to have the greatest chance to be a star-level player was really the motivation that I heard from Cooper that was most persuasive.”
How does this affect the pressure to perform?
Pratt: “It's not going to change anything about how I want to perform. I'm still going to want to go 5-for-5 every night and do all this stuff. It's 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. Or, there's pressure, but it's different. It's fun pressure. And you get to, not relax, but you kind of get to just enjoy and go and play and not have to worry about some other things.
“That was one of the biggest reasons why I decided to do this. When I do get called up to The Show, I can just be ready to play.”