KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers finalized their eight-year, $50.75 million contract with Cooper Pratt on Friday, adding their prized 21-year-old shortstop prospect to their 40-man roster and optioning him to Triple-A Nashville.
The deal with Pratt includes club options that could keep him with the Brewers through the 2035 season.
“Cooper has all the tools to be a special player,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said, “and we are thrilled that he will be in a Brewers uniform for years to come. This commitment continues to show our organization’s passion — led by ownership — to consistently produce a winning team season after season.”
Pratt is among the top prospects in a Brewers farm system that ranks among the best in the majors. He was rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 60 prospect in all of baseball and fourth among those in the Milwaukee organization — 18-year-old infielder Jesús Made, who is at Double-A Biloxi, is the top Brewers prospect and ranked the third-best in all of baseball.
The Brewers in many ways are following the blueprint they laid with outfielder Jackson Chourio, whom they signed to an eight-year, $82 million deal in December 2023 when he was 19 years old. He had only played six games above Double-A but reached the majors the following year, and he has at least 20 homers and 20 steals in each of his first two seasons.
"I think any time an organization decides to make a commitment to a player for a long period of time, they do their research. We all agree this is the right person to do this with," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said before Friday night's game in Kansas City.
“I think he's close, relatively speaking, but spring training and stuff like that, it's not a real indicator of whether you're ready or not," Murphy said. “He's got to go out now and do the day-to-day in Triple-A.”
The Brewers selected Pratt in the sixth round of the 2023 first-year player draft out of Magnolia Heights High School in Senatobia, Mississippi. He was already a polished fielder but is starting to develop at the plate, where he hit .238 with eight homers, 62 RBIs, 31 steals and 67 walks in 120 games with Double-A Biloxi in the pitcher-friendly Southern League last season.
Pratt was 4 for 15 with an RBI and a steal while playing in three games at Nashville last season, and he flashed more of his potential this spring, when he hit .294 with a .405 on-base percentage and four RBIs in 18 spring training games this year.
“Prospects are prospects. They're things to be excited about, but it doesn't guarantee anything. It's ballplayers,” Murphy said. “When a prospect becomes a ballplayer, that's when it means something. I don't mean to discredit or take the shine off Cooper's big day, but it's all about being a ballplayer.”
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FILE - Milwaukee Brewers infielder Cooper Pratt poses for an official photo, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
Thousands of Catholic devotees commemorated Good Friday across Latin America with processions and ceremonies re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus.
In Antigua, a colonial-era city in southern Guatemala, dozens dressed in purple and white robes and made their way under the early morning sun, many of them penitents known as “cucuruchos.” Others carried centuries-old images of Jesus through cobblestone streets.
The city hosts more than a dozen processions throughout Holy Week, set against a backdrop of volcanoes.
Marcos Bautista, 63, said he has attended the Good Friday observances since his father brought him along as a baby in his arms.
“To describe Holy Week in Antigua, there are no words that can capture what it feels like," Bautista said. “It’s a feeling that, just by speaking about what Jesus has done in our lives, moves me deeply.”
In Bolivia, President Rodrigo Paz traveled to the southern city of Tarija to participate in Good Friday ceremonies.
The country is a secular state under its constitution and its leaders refrained from engaging in any religious events between 2006 and 2025. But Paz — who took office last November — broke with precedent by attending Palm Sunday Mass carrying a palm frond.
In the capital city of La Paz, local authorities and military bands accompanied Good Friday processions, in which hooded penitents carried the Holy Sepulcher through the streets.
Antonio Santamaría, who was holding an image of Jesus, said he welcomed the government’s presence. “I’m glad everyone is here now,” Santamaría said.
Bolivia remains a predominantly Catholic country, alongside strong Indigenous spiritual traditions. In some households, it is customary to eat only fish on Good Friday and prepare up to 12 dishes representing the apostles of Jesus, a tradition that has declined in recent years amid an economic crisis.
In Ecuador, where about 80% of the population identifies as Catholic, processions were held across major cities. In the capital, Quito, the “Jesús del Gran Poder” procession drew more than 150,000 faithful who filled the historic center’s streets with chants and prayers as they accompanied an image of Jesus carrying the cross.
Thousands more climbed the Monserrate Hill in neighboring Colombia. At more than 10,200 feet (3,100 meters) above sea level, they reached the summit in the capital city of Bogotá to attend Mass at the basilica. Similar observances, including reenactments of the Stations of the Cross, were held in other parts of the country.
Mexicans, too, celebrated Good Friday in a country that’s home to nearly 100 million Catholics.
Masked penitents, in chains and with pieces of cactus stuck to their skin, walked through the town of Atlixco, in the central state of Puebla. Known as the “Procession of the Chained," it’s part of a tradition in which some participants pay penance for their sins and others thank God for miracles.
“It’s very beautiful, very sad,” said Marcela Ramírez, a homemaker who attended the procession. “It’s a kind of reverence, and you have to come and accompany them.”
While the share of Catholics in Latin America has declined over the past decade, the faith remains the region’s largest religion.
In several countries, including Peru and Argentina, more than 60% of adults still identify as Catholic, according to 2024 surveys by the Pew Research Center and Latinobarómetro.
AP journalists Moisés Castillo in Antigua, Guatemala; Carlos Valdez and Juan Karita in La Paz, Bolivia; Gonzalo Solano and Gabriela Molina, in Quito, Ecuador; and Martín Silva in Atlixco, Mexico, contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
A penitents known as a "Veronica" takes part in the Jesus del Gran Poder procession in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa).
Hooded penitents known as "Cucuruchos" take part in the Jesus del Gran Poder procession in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa).
A blindfolded penitent wears a crown of thorns before a Good Friday procession during Holy Week celebrations in Atlixco, Mexico, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Chains drape over the Santa Muerte tattoo of a penitent before a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Atlixco, Mexico, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A penitent wearing chains and prickly cactus holds a photo on a cross at a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Atlixco, Mexico, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Penitents from the Nazareno brotherhood carry a statue of Jesus down the steps of the Cathedral Basilica of St. James the Apostle for a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Tunja, Colombia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
A hooded penitent from the Nazareno brotherhood waits for the Good Friday procession inside the Cathedral Basilica of St. James the Apostle during Holy Week in Tunja, Colombia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Young women and girls carry jeweled hearts representing the Virgin Mary at a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Hooded penitents participate in a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A statue of Jesus Christ with a cross makes its way past electric cables at La Merced church's Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Women carry children dressed as penitents knows as "cucuruchos" on the sidelines of La Merced church's Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Penitents carry statues of Jesus Christ representing the Stations of the Cross at a Good Friday procession by La Merced church during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, just before sunrise Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Musicians dressed as Roman soldiers take part in La Merced church's Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
