Prospect Extensions

[nicksaviking]

I see on MLBTR this morning that two minor league prospects have signed or are about to sign large extensions. Colt Emerson, a shortstop drafted out of high school in 2023, the same draft as Walker Jenkins, has signed an 8 year 95M deal with a 9th year club option. As far as prospect rankings go, he's about even with Jenkins.

The more surprising extension is Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt. He was drafted in the same year but in the 6th round. Surprisingly (to me) his prospect rankings are in the middle of the top 100 lists, but his bat looks very questionable. Like Noah Miller/Marek Houston questionable. The young man hasn't hit a lick since advancing from Low A ball. He's getting an 8 year 50.75M deal with two club options. I suppose that one probably wouldn't be all that large, but it is surprising as he appears to likely be a glove only player.

In any case, it appears the season is ripe for prospect extensions. One might think Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper in particular may be targets for the Twins, but I have the feeling the Twins entire operation is taking everything year to year while they prioritize selling the team with the 500M real estate debt attached to the sale. I'm guessing long range player outlooks aren't being considered and long term debt tied to those contracts is probably the opposite of what they want to do at the moment.