Brewers acquire Jake Bauers from NYY

[SeaBass]

Pity the Brewers released him after 2024 or I believe he'd still be eligible for arbitration, if I'm understanding the timeline right? But as it is I'm hoping some team out there gives him Big Bucks™ this offseason after he becomes a World Series champion.

[Yaz]

1 hour ago, dlk9s said:

Plenty of guys never do anything when they come to the Brewers. And with plenty of those guys, I can see it right away. Dude just doesn't have it. "Trash" is too harsh, but they just aren't good enough.

There have been two guys over the past few years who were pretty bad, but I kept thinking to myself, "I can see something there. It's in there somewhere, he just needs to find a way to bring it out."

Those two guys were Bauers and Joey O. Really happy for both of them, especially if this team goes all the way. Seem like good dudes.

I have been STUBBORN in my support of Jake 'THE LEGEND' Bauers going back to his 2024 release.  The home run he jacked out against the Mets in that fateful game 3 loss that season opened my eyes.   I saw it when a lot didn't.  I like this dude.  Glad he proved so many wrong this season.

[Turnbows Barber]

5 hours ago, SeaBass said:

Excerpt from a Yahoo Sports article

That Bauers and Snell, former Rays farmhands who shared countless minor-league bus rides, ended up here, on this stage, is a testament to the long, winding, beautiful road that is professional baseball.

Wednesday's two main characters have taken very different paths in the decade since they last shared a clubhouse. Snell stuck with Tampa Bay, achieving stardom, two Cy Youngs and around $139 million in career earnings. Bauers, meanwhile, couldn't quite find a foothold in The Show. He bounced from organization to organization as filler, as depth, as a backup plan.

Twenty-six days before Snell penned his five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers in November 2024, Bauers was outrighted, effectively released, by the team he has since pushed within a game of the Fall Classic. But the Brewers, ahead of 2025, brought Bauers back on a minor-league deal. And through circumstance, faith, confidence, obstinance and determination, the 31-year-old SoCal kid finally turned himself into an impact major leaguer. This season, he was the best hitter on baseball's best team.

Over the past few days, he has taken things to a whole new level, looking as dialed in as a ballplayer can be.

"I've seen all the ups and downs he's been through, and it's been a lot of downs. So for him to go through this right now, he's earned it. Hats off to him," a conciliatory Snell shared after the game.

"This is the best I've ever seen him play."

That bolded quote from Snell, wow what a really gracious thing for him to say. Jake is such an easy guy to root for.

I realize you only quoted the part of the article about Bauers since this thread is about Bauers so it makes sense that you didn't include it, but the opening line of that article literally made me laugh out loud.

[ToolShed55]

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

I'm guilty.  I was high on the guys we traded for him at the time.

Anyone here who claims they knew what Bauers would bring in 2026 is a flat out liar.  Hindsight is easy.

Happy as hell to be dead wrong!!!

JAKE CAN RAKE!

Yes, hindsight is easy, but so is constant pessimism. You can't lose - either you're right and get to victory lap another hot take, or you're wrong, and the Brewers benefit = win/win.

Yes, anyone who claims they saw who Bauers would be in 2026 WITH CERTAINTY is a liar, so is everyone who predicts the opposite before a bat has even been swung.

 

And, frankly, that post is WAY more prevalent on this site. 

 

Also, LFG Brewers!!!

[TURBO]

7 minutes ago, ToolShed55 said:

Yes, hindsight is easy, but so is constant pessimism. You can't lose - either you're right and get to victory lap another hot take, or you're wrong, and the Brewers benefit = win/win.

Yes, anyone who claims they saw who Bauers would be in 2026 WITH CERTAINTY is a liar, so is everyone who predicts the opposite before a bat has even been swung.

 

And, frankly, that post is WAY more prevalent on this site. 

 

Also, LFG Brewers!!!

Meh...

If you are accusing me of constant pessimism, you are far off base, and you and your 102 posts wouldn't have a clue what I'm all about, or how I post.

Also, if someone PREDICTS negative outcomes, it doesn't make them a liar if the opposite occurs.  It just makes them wrong.  That is an asinine proposition.

[endaround]

2 hours ago, SeaBass said:

Pity the Brewers released him after 2024 or I believe he'd still be eligible for arbitration, if I'm understanding the timeline right? But as it is I'm hoping some team out there gives him Big Bucks™ this offseason after he becomes a World Series champion.

No that doesn't matter. That's just the Brewers saying Bauers wasn't good enough to guarantee a roster spot to (so yes the Brewers weren't that high on Bauers at that point). Service time is all that matters for free agency.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I choose to enjoy the Bauers experience this postseason - knowing it's unlikely he can sustain this type of production longterm at this stage of his career, but hopeful for his own sake that he does!

Honestly, the Brewers have a lefthanded bat who hit 50 HRs in his first professional season down on the farm who's probably going to make it an easy decision to trade Jake or let him go when that time arrives.

[SeaBass]

1 hour ago, endaround said:

No that doesn't matter. That's just the Brewers saying Bauers wasn't good enough to guarantee a roster spot to (so yes the Brewers weren't that high on Bauers at that point). Service time is all that matters for free agency.

Interesting. I was kind of assuming since he then became a free agent and signed a minor league deal later with the Brewers that would nullify any team control that would theoretically remain? I certainly don't know for sure, not an expert on the nuances there.

[HarryDoyle]

6 hours ago, PlayerHader said:

prescient

And I was right.

[ToolShed55]

6 hours ago, TURBO said:

Meh...

If you are accusing me of constant pessimism, you are far off base, and you and your 102 posts wouldn't have a clue what I'm all about, or how I post.

Also, if someone PREDICTS negative outcomes, it doesn't make them a liar if the opposite occurs.  It just makes them wrong.  That is an asinine proposition.

Okay, a couple of things. 

The word "you", as in "you can't lose"....etc, doesn't have to mean YOU, i.e. Turbo. If I'd said "one can't lose" there would surely have been some comment about that. 

Also, I've been a member of this site (under another name) since, oh, around 2004, when Brian ran Brewerfan. Not sure what an ad hominem attack on my posting numbers has to do with the point I made. 

I guarantee I'm not the only one who doesn't post as much as they used to, due to how toxic this site can sometimes be. 

It IS easier to be pessimistic than the opposite. I'm not the only one to mention "the usual suspects" when it comes to immediate comments on every trade the FO makes. Hot takes ripping on the new guy we traded for while usually overvaluing our prospects, before they've played a single game. 

I'm not saying that I KNEW Bauers would be who he is now. That's my point. Nobody knows for certain, but most post opinion as fact. It just gets old...

 

[Outlander]

I give Bauers a ton of credit figuring out a way to get better at an older age, it doesn't matter what fanbase or how long you followed baseball there is pretty much no one that figured Bauers would produce like this starting in his 30s. 

I would think the qualifying offer is a no brainer at this point, can't imagine the uproar of not offering the NLCS MVP a contract. For Bauers though and all of the playoff hype he may find someone willing to give him a three year deal.

[Valentín Viña]

Is Bauers the one who had a funny moment with Rowdy Tellez when he first arrived after being traded? The media sort of made it seem like Bauers was being a Jack Parkman-like jerk, but Rowdy later said they were friends and just messing around. 

[Brewcrew82]

Btw, the Brewers WILL be offering Jake Bauers the QO in the offseason. 

[Dragonbait]

What would an extension/contract look like?

[39Streak]

Hard to tell what will happen here.  If the salary floor is a reality, it could drive his value up with a lot of other teams.  But also, here.  Mid-season, I was thinking 2 years, $25M to $30M might have a chance retain him.  I don’t think that will be close.  My guess is 5 years at over $100M.  Won’t be totally giant as he’s only done this for one season in his 30 YO year.  But!  His progression began late last summer.  So he sustained it over the off-season into this season.  Really happy for Jake and would love to see him on a 3 to 4 year deal in MKE and just move on from Vaughn at this point.

[LouisEly]

It's really fascinating to compare Bauers and Vaughn.  They are so different.  Why I think Bauers will get much more than the QO is because of how he was good against both LHP and RHP.  And the tank off of a multi Cy Young winning LHP on a big stage will amplify that.

Happy for him, even if It's not with the Brewers.  Will be great to see him get a big payday after all of his perseverance.

[TURBO]

It would suck if he goes to the Cubs, but I could see it...

Imagine both he and Freddy in a Cubs uniform next year?

Gross.

[NewerBrewer]

On 10/16/2026 at 9:52 AM, Valentín Viña said:

Is Bauers the one who had a funny moment with Rowdy Tellez when he first arrived after being traded? The media sort of made it seem like Bauers was being a Jack Parkman-like jerk, but Rowdy later said they were friends and just messing around. 

No. That was Josh Donaldson.

[MrTPlush]

People are saying his breakout started in the second half last year. I mean first off, he hardly played between June-August…and he was awful. He actually had a solid April/May and exploded in September.

He was crazy consistent and solid this year though. 

I think enough teams will buy into the breakout to offer him a nice contract, but it is a still a risk with very little track record. He is also going to be 31 years old in the first year of the contract, not great. On paper he is a great 1B/DH combo, but the teams with dumb money to blow on someone as risky as him need the DH for their overpaid aging stars.