Jake Bauers

[Mr Southpaw]

Does anybody offered Jake Bowers a four year $18 million contract extension right now I’m thinking it would be well worth it. He can play first, DH, play their corner outfield. I think he is found what he needs to be productive.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

2 hours ago, Mr Southpaw said:

Does anybody offered Jake Bowers a four year $18 million contract extension right now I’m thinking it would be well worth it. He can play first, DH, play their corner outfield. I think he is found what he needs to be productive.

Given Rengifo is making $3,5 million, wouldn’t $4.5 per be a little light?  I get it’s a multi-year deal.

hopefully Bauers is one of those guys that realizes he’s more valuable here then elsewhere, and we can find a way to keep him around in 2027 and beyond.

that said, this might be his only opportunity to cash in, so I’d understand if he took a bag from a different club

[jay87shot]

I would think 4/18 is very light. He is at .281/.353/.480 with a 133 ops+. His defense hasn't been as good as the past couple years but I would guess we could call him average. If you look at the free agent class this year it is exceedingly weak. I would guess a contract might be more like 3/24 at this point. I wouldnt mind extending him but dont forget we control Vaughn next year. To be honest I still like some combination of Burke, Adams, Fischer, or Bitonti long Iong term so 4 year seems to unnecessary.

I wouldnt be against trading one of Vauhhn or Bauers at the deadline if it means getting a meaningful peice back. I am sold on Lara taking over at CF and being a dude. In that case, Bauers doesnt get OF playing time (especially when Lockridge is back). Since Vaughn has control next year, I would lean towards trading Bauers.

[cragi]

10 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I would lean towards trading Bauers.

Im not seeing it. We have weak pieces in the OF right now, and Bauers isnt one. He is the kind of pickup we might be interested in acquiring at the deadline if he wasnt already on the team right now. We are in the playoff hunt and you'd deal away one of the few bright spots in the lineup? What, to unload a cheap player while there is some value and make a competitor stronger? doesnt make sense to me. 

[jay87shot]

11 minutes ago, cragi said:

Im not seeing it. We have weak pieces in the OF right now, and Bauers isnt one. He is the kind of pickup we might be interested in picking up at the deadline if he wasnt the team right now. We are in the playoff hunt and you'd deal away one of the few bright spots in the lineup? What to unload a cheap player while there is some value and make a competitor stronger? doesnt make sense to me. 

Chourio has LF, as I mentioned I think Lara will be the CF come mid-June, that leaves Vaughn, Bauers, Mitchell, Frelick, and eventually Lockridge for 1B and RF. I am not for trading away one of our better bats but with potential shrinking playing time and no control beyond this year I think he would make the most sense. I would be looking to get a SS/3B not just unloading him for a prospect. I think Vaughn is the better bat long term and with the year of control a better fit. 3B/SS have been so bad getting an average player at one of those spots would be a bigger improvement. If we do have a roster crunch I would be OK with trading Vaughn, Mitchell, or Frelick for the right 3B/SS, I would just lean towards trying to trade Bauers because he doesn't have control after this year.

[Mr Southpaw]

I love the power combination between Vaughn and Bauers and paying them $20 mill for that duo would be relatively cheap in todays market.

[Outlander]

Vaughn has been pretty weak against RHP his entire career, especially for a 1B. Can't see the Brewers trading aways somebody like Bauers that is actually producing. There is a reason Vaughn sits so much. Vaughn is certainly valuable as the Brewers have had  their issues agains LHP but more valuable when he has a platoon partner like Bauers.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

1 hour ago, Mr Southpaw said:

I love the power combination between Vaughn and Bauers and paying them $20 mill for that duo would be relatively cheap in todays market.

I love the Vaughn/Bauers platoon and how they are performing this season, but collectively, the two of them came into this season was a career total of 0.0 WAR

-1.2 for Bauers and +1.2 for Vaughn.  Nobody would pay $20 million for that.

Are they giving us $20M in value… for sure, but the sample size would say right now that this looks like a Fluke. If Vaughn keeps it up through the end of the season he’ll have 1.5 seasons of turning it around.  

Bauers, IIRC was in danger of not making our playoff roster until a hot September.

 

 

 

[sveumrules]

Obviously it's a small sample for Jake, but going back to September 5th of last year he is at 247 PA of 149 wRC+ for 1.4 WAR, though StatCast thinks there is some good fortune in there with a .362 expected wOBA versus a .385 actual wOBA. He'll be entering FA going into his age 31 season.

Best comp for a first basemen/corner outfielder who signed last offseason would probably be Ryan O'Hearn. Was a year older, but had a longer track record of success with 1,406 PA of 121 wRC+ for 6.1 WAR from 2023 to 2025, and signed for 2/$26M.

[TURBO]

Trading away THE bat that has produced all season wouldn't be a good idea imo.

Like someone said above, he's exactly the kind of player the Brewers would be looking to get at the deadline, and we already have him on our team.  What sense would it make to trade him?

Geez.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

51 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Trading away THE bat that has produced all season wouldn't be a good idea imo.

Like someone said above, he's exactly the kind of player the Brewers would be looking to get at the deadline, and we already have him on our team.  What sense would it make to trade him?

Geez.

I agree Turbo.  I'm definitely for hanging onto Bauers this year.   I also would be interested in trying to keep him around over the next few years if we could.   2/$26 would seem pretty high, but I could see a 2/$12 or 3/$18 type deal.

If they were both free agents next year, I don't think Vaughn/Bauers would get a combined $20m though per year.

[liveforoctober]

Probably can't re-sign him for what he will get elsewhere. Probably can't get much in value in a trade at the deadline that will outweigh what he provides in value to this current team for the remainder of the year.

We ride with Jake until the year is over and hopefully he gets his first World Series swings with us. Then tip of the cap and let him go make life changing money.

 

[long ball]

Bauers has really turned himself into a nice hitter. 
 

I would be interested in bringing him back on  a 1 year deal, but I’m not giving a 30 year old break out hitter a multi year deal. 

[cragi]

1 hour ago, long ball said:

Bauers has really turned himself into a nice hitter. 
 

I would be interested in bringing him back on  a 1 year deal, but I’m not giving a 30 year old break out hitter a multi year deal. 

there's no incentive for him to take a 1-year deal. he's played himself into a real contract somewhere if he keeps it up

[Trail]

I think its important to remember that Bauers' hot streak now stretches back into last season...when he came back from injury.  Its not like this is just an early-season thing.  He's been a different hitter, it seems, since then.  His versatility (looks to me like he's turned himself into a passable outfielder) makes him all the more valuable.  3 years?  Given his age I wouldn't go further.  Ya...it'll take $6 to 7/yr.  A little bit of a gamble, but worth it.

[nate82]

I posted this yesterday in the media links and Bauers has changed his stance which maybe the reason he is having more success but who knows really.

 

[Mr Southpaw]

Maybe something like a two-year contract for between six and $7 million. Add on a team option for something like eight or 9 million for one year. 13 million for two years is not a bad investment for someone who has proven for almost a year that he can hit professional baseball. 

[Trail]

He JUST KEEPS GETTING MORE EXPENSIVE!  

[igor67]

I love what he has developed into, but there is just an awfully large amount of risk that this is his career year, which as it stands would project out to only 3.5 WAR. I could see a 1 year deal perhaps but we also have a fair number of bats with corner IF profiles getting close.

[Brian]

On 6/1/2026 at 9:24 PM, cragi said:

there's no incentive for him to take a 1-year deal. he's played himself into a real contract somewhere if he keeps it up

But he also will be age 31 in two months.  Definitely no more than a two year deal. 

[mudbutt]

On 6/1/2026 at 1:21 PM, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

I agree Turbo.  I'm definitely for hanging onto Bauers this year.   I also would be interested in trying to keep him around over the next few years if we could.   2/$26 would seem pretty high, but I could see a 2/$12 or 3/$18 type deal.

If they were both free agents next year, I don't think Vaughn/Bauers would get a combined $20m though per year.

Vaughn is going to get 10-12 mil in arbitration and if Bauers keeps it up he would get 10 easily. If Hearn got 2/29, Bauers can get 2/20 no doubt and probably more like 2/24 would be my guess. I do love Vaughn but I don't think it's a given the Brewers will spend that much on him next year as a weakside platoon player. I would rather give Bauers that 10-12 mil and have Adams be the righty off the bench or sign a cheap lefty killer.

[cragi]

18 minutes ago, Brian said:

But he also will be age 31 in two months.  Definitely no more than a two year deal. 

Right, he doesn't make sense for the brewers long term for a number of reasons though he is perfect for 2026

Brewers can't financially risk a serious veteran contract but someone will roll the dice

Pipeline (OF)

- Lara

- Adamczewski

- Payne

- Ragsdale

First base:

- Adams

- fischer?

Too many guys in the upper minors knocking at the door we are already paying

 

[BrewerFan]

On 6/1/2026 at 12:27 PM, TURBO said:

Trading away THE bat that has produced all season wouldn't be a good idea imo.

Like someone said above, he's exactly the kind of player the Brewers would be looking to get at the deadline, and we already have him on our team.  What sense would it make to trade him?

Geez.

If he was a RHed hittter, he'd be one of the most valuable position players on the market. As it stands... I think he'd be in the top 15. 

We're... not a great offensive team... it makes zero sense to trade a player like that. You're NOT going to get a top 100 prospect, probably not an average systems top 10 prospect and we have sooo many prospects at every position. 

But hey, if Seattle wants to trade Kade Anderson, Jake Bauers is all theirs, but I wouldn't shop them. I would actually prefer to see him and Vaughn play more to be honest. I don't care about his splits this year, I think he's the type of threat we need, but I'm not a 2X MOY... but at most, I'd trade Mitchell or Frelick(preferably Mitchell since I've said if he has a healthy year, sell high and replace with Lara) if you could get a better hitter with less control. I have zero thoughts on who that may be, but I'm thinking a Randy Arozerana type. 

 

Selling offense with this staff though? The exact opposite of what we need to be doing. 

[TURBO]

9 hours ago, cragi said:

First base:

- Adams

- fischer?

- Burke

 

Don't forget Burke...

[BrewerFan]

8 hours ago, cragi said:

Right, he doesn't make sense for the brewers long term for a number of reasons though he is perfect for 2026

Brewers can't financially risk a serious veteran contract but someone will roll the dice

Pipeline (OF)

- Lara

- Adamczewski

- Payne

- Ragsdale

First base:

- Adams

- fischer?

Too many guys in the upper minors knocking at the door we are already paying

 

I know this will not be popular, but I'm looking at Tyler Black as the obvious replacement right out of the gate next year. Not as much pop, but he's a very similar player. You want a LF/1B/DH who hits LHed? I think Black can be a .280/.360/.400 type player with 10-15 HRs and 20 SBs. 

But he won't have the power and I may be generous with the HR total if he's playing limited time. 

You are omitting Burke who I think could slide in and be a very good hitter relatively early, but if nothing else a nice power hitter who draws walks early on. Even if it's only ~.220/.300 with some pop. And then Willken I think still deserves a mention, but he does not look good right now. I think he can turn it around.