Brewers Should Hammer Home Jesús Made Extension While They Still Can

Extensions have become one of the key storylines of the spring in Major League Baseball, and the Milwaukee Brewers got in on the act once already.

With their $50.75 million deal for Cooper Pratt, the Brewers locked up a high-floor defender who could be a big-league starting shortstop in short order. But while Pratt is a fine infield prospect in his own right, most Brewers fans are considerably more excited about 18-year-old Jesús Made -- and rightfully so.

There's no evidence to date that the Brewers have made any advances on an extension for Made, but there's also no conceivable way that president of baseball operations Matt Arnold and the rest of his front office aren't debating the topic daily. So this article is meant to be a friendly nudge: Pull the trigger while you still can.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Made extension makes all the sense in the world

Jesús Made — Milwaukee Brewers shortstop prospect Jesus Made prepares to hit during spring training on February 17, 2025, at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. | Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Why do the Brewers need to make sure Made sticks around as long as possible? Because the more we see of him, the more it looks like he could be the most talented position player the organization has seen this century. Just saying that feels dirty to Christian Yelich, who won a Most Valuable Player award in a Brewers uniform, but it's true.

If it took eight years and $82 million to extend Jackson Chourio before his major league debut, one might imagine that the price tag would be higher for Made. The two were both top-five prospects in all of baseball, and the influx of other extensions around baseball (see: Seattle Mariners top prospect Colt Emerson's eight-year, $95 million deal) has to mean something.

But even if the deal for Made has to be something like eight years, $100 million, it's worthwhile for the Brewers at this point to buy out at least a couple of free agency years. This is the way to break the cycle of having to trade players too early -- make sure they're locked in for almost a full decade.

Because Made could debut in the majors late in the summer at age 19, and because a lockout is looming this winter, there's a short window left to make an extension happen. After the debut, the price may well climb astronomically.