Jake. Bauers Appreciation thread

[markedman5]

4 walks and a homer today……..the guy is being pitched like he is Barry Bonds……..

Ok…..that’s a bit much…….but man what a season he is having….. .hate to think where we’d be without him.

Words that I never thought I would type. 😎

[gregmag]

We rightly talk a lot about the Brewers’ ability to develop young players. They’re showing quite a rare knack for developing older players.

Last year, at 29, Bauers was substantially better than he had ever been before. This year, at 30, he’s a lot better than that.

Andrew Vaughan has been massively better for the Brewers at ages 27 and 28 than he ever was before.

Brandon Lockridge has never been a useful major league hitter. This year, at 29, he’s off to a strong start with a .368 OBP.

David Hamilton actually had a much better year in 2024 than any of these other guys ever had before joining the Brewers, but he has a much higher OBP this year at 28 than he did then.  The Brewers talk like they’ve figured out something with him, and it’s at least worth paying attention.

Blake Perkins became a good fourth outfielder type for the Brewers at 26-28, which is when most players peak — but they got him there from no prior MLB experience.

This is unusual. Few hitters go from useless to useful in their late 20s. The Brewers’ ability to do this with multiple guys has been a big factor in their recent success.

 

 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Bauers has been a wonderful story. Saturday's game illustrates the simple 'get a good pitch to hit' philosophy that so many players struggle with. He was pitched carefully, was smart enough to realize it, and refused to get himself out. Once Chourio gets better at that, look out.

I AM a little concerned about Bauers' OF play. Like all of us I'm probably spoiled by the defense this team usually plays, but his footwork after catching the fly ball w/the bases loaded Saturday night was all screwed up. Didn't cost them anything as the runner held, but a few details like that need to be cleaned up as we'll certainly see him out there at times. If he puts in the hard work that he obviously has at the plate he should make an adequate LF.

[Mr Southpaw]

I would give him a two-year contract. Two years $12 million. I don’t need to see anymore with my eyes to know that he can hit. Something we’ve been looking for in the first place for a long time.

[wallus]

I appreciate the bat and he seems like a good teammate. BR hates the defense which I would assume is mainly outfield?

I think he should be playing everyday regardless.

[Dragonbait]

Its too bad he doesn't play 3rd. Would solve a lot of our problems.  *le sigh*

[TURBO]

I was always down on him before this season, I admit that...

Not anymore, what a story!

 

[liveforoctober]

25 minutes ago, Mr Southpaw said:

I would give him a two-year contract. Two years $12 million. I don’t need to see anymore with my eyes to know that he can hit. Something we’ve been looking for in the first place for a long time.

Plum to peaches I could be wildly wrong about this but I don't think that is close to what Bauers will end up getting. 

O'Hearn got 2yr $29mil+ last off-season after putting up a 2.5WAR year with an inconsistent past.

We can argue about the track records of both players and that's fine, but if Bauers ends up around that same 2.5 number... I can't imagine he is going to get less than eight figures a season on a multi-year deal from someone.

.. and he deserves it and I hope he gets it.

[GAME05]

Says a lot about our coaches, too. Maybe it's a specific type of player they're better able to tweak, but they've been very good for a lot of years at improving performance.

4/$58 is my guess at his next contract if it's with somebody else. Nice plus a guy who can play two positions. I assume his LF defense gets better with more reps.

[Mr Southpaw]

8 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

Plum to peaches I could be wildly wrong about this but I don't think that is close to what Bauers will end up getting. 

O'Hearn got 2yr $29mil+ last off-season after putting up a 2.5WAR year with an inconsistent past.

We can argue about the track records of both players and that's fine, but if Bauers ends up around that same 2.5 number... I can't imagine he is going to get less than eight figures a season on a multi-year deal from someone.

.. and he deserves it and I hope he gets it.

I would offer it. The worst you can do is say no. Maybe you make a counter offer a little higher.

[endaround]

On 6/7/2026 at 11:02 AM, wallus said:

I appreciate the bat and he seems like a good teammate. BR hates the defense which I would assume is mainly outfield?

I think he should be playing everyday regardless.

Actually his outfield defense has been OK. His 1B defense has been terrible. DRS and FRV both have him a -5 runs in only 375 innings.

[endaround]

16 hours ago, Mr Southpaw said:

I would offer it. The worst you can do is say no. Maybe you make a counter offer a little higher.

The worst is you are insulting.  Either you believe Bauers is going to be worth it as a big side of a platoon for the next few years and are willing to pay him at least $15 million a year or he's just a bench player in which case given the amount of prospects coming up why would you want him for $6 million?

[owbc]

Luke Raley is also thriving at a similar age and with a similar management philosophy putting him in favorable platoon opportunities. 

Bauers isn't as rough of a platoon option as Raley and could probably play every day if we didn't have Vaughn hitting .519 with a 1.384 OPS against lefties. 

I agree that he'll likely get multi-year offers. I would be interested at 2/15 but I think he'll get 2/25 if he keeps up his current production level. There just isn't a ton of added value for a 1B/OF lefty platoon hitter since you would probably project him at 2 WAR/year or so even if he stays hot and puts up 4 WAR this year. 

[Jopal78]

On 6/7/2026 at 10:58 AM, Mr Southpaw said:

I would give him a two-year contract. Two years $12 million. I don’t need to see anymore with my eyes to know that he can hit. Something we’ve been looking for in the first place for a long time.

I always thought Bauers was a useful player. Hard to tell if the break out is a real or this is just an extended hot streak. 
 

However, if he finishes with an .890 OPS and 25+ homers he’ll do a lot better than 2yr/16 million as a free agent 

[tmwiese55]

The trade idea thread on Bauers mentioned how we wouldn't risk the QO on him so wouldn't get anything. I didn't see it mentioned as to what the best guess would be on that QO?   Due to his limited track record it shouldn't be anything too crazy right?    If he continues to do well all season maybe giving that and hoping he accepts as a one year stopgap to some youths coming up could be in the cards.

Other relevant info is Vaughn will be ARB eligible and assuming a modest bump for him he'll be in the 10 mil range.     If Bauers QO is in the same area I would think to go with him (assuming a good finish to the season) since he's strong side of the platoon and has the OF flex if needed.   And generally speaking, I don't think they'll pay both.

[wiguy94]

16 minutes ago, tmwiese55 said:

The trade idea thread on Bauers mentioned how we wouldn't risk the QO on him so wouldn't get anything. I didn't see it mentioned as to what the best guess would be on that QO?   Due to his limited track record it shouldn't be anything too crazy right?    If he continues to do well all season maybe giving that and hoping he accepts as a one year stopgap to some youths coming up could be in the cards.

Other relevant info is Vaughn will be ARB eligible and assuming a modest bump for him he'll be in the 10 mil range.     If Bauers QO is in the same area I would think to go with him (assuming a good finish to the season) since he's strong side of the platoon and has the OF flex if needed.   And generally speaking, I don't think they'll pay both.

QO this year was $22M. Probably close to $23M next year.

[sveumrules]

If Bauers finishes the year around the 148 wRC+ he is currently sporting (or even the 135 wRC+ his expected wOBA would roughly shake out to) I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Brewers offered and Bauers accepted a QO (or whatever new mechanism maybe replaces it in the next CBA).

[liveforoctober]

It'll be interesting to see how a new CBA would shake things up. If a salary floor is established there will be a lot of teams in the bottom half of the league who will have to add mid 8 figures to their payroll to clear it and instead of swinging big on one guy to cover all of that - giving 4 different Jake Bauers of the world a healthy contract might be the more prudent move - so Jake and his peers should have options in that hypothetical.

[tmwiese55]

34 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

QO this year was $22M. Probably close to $23M next year.

Oh gotcha, its the same for everyone. Duh, I did know that.

[owbc]

Personally I think there are better uses of that QO money. 

[liveforoctober]

Go back in time one year and imagine the response here if someone had said "in one year we will be discussing whether or not to give Jake Bauers a QO"..

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

6 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Go back in time one year and imagine the response here if someone had said "in one year we will be discussing whether or not to give Jake Bauers a QO"..

I was definitely one that was questioning if Bowers would be on the roster this year… then he had that red hot September.

[owbc]

8 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Go back in time one year and imagine the response here if someone had said "in one year we will be discussing whether or not to give Jake Bauers a QO"..

And in the same vein, imagine the response 1-2 years from now when someone says "We actually discussed whether or not to give Jake Bauers a QO"

[39Streak]

I appreciate Jake Bauers.