Jake. Bauers Appreciation thread

[markedman5]

 

[markedman5]

 

[Turnbows Barber]

Good article in this morning's USA Today about Bauers:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2026/06/21/jakers-bauers-stats-brewers-contract/90633096007/

[Yaz19]

BUMP!  Because Jake is so awesome he deserves to be visible.  I remember all of the angst and been a staunch supporter of Bauers.  He had a game last night and may yet get a call to the All-Star game as a late replacement.  He deserves it.

[SeaBass]

4 hours ago, Yaz19 said:

BUMP!  Because Jake is so awesome he deserves to be visible.  I remember all of the angst and been a staunch supporter of Bauers.  He had a game last night and may yet get a call to the All-Star game as a late replacement.  He deserves it.

Jake is doing a halfway decent Freddie Freeman impression. It's Freeman at age 36 but not bad.

Edit: Ha! All I had to do was scroll up, this must have been where I got the idea to compare him to Freeman in the first place.

[markedman5]

Bump…….🫡

[Outlander]

Deserves another bump after Bauers performance yesterday. Really astonsihing the year he is having. I would have never believed he could hit LHP consistently but his overall slash line is better against LHP than RHP this season. I don't think he takes a short term deal after this type of season but give him the qualifying offer and hope he takes a one year deal.

[Brian]

2026 Performance Breakdown & Advanced Hitting Profile.

Jake Bauers has turned raw underlying metrics into high-end production:

• Bat Speed: 76.7 mph (95th percentile)

• Walk Rate (BB%): 14.4% (95th percentile)

• Hard-Hit %: 52.8% (96th percentile)

• Chase %: 20.3% (96th percentile, showing massive plate discipline gains)

• Barrel %: 14.1% (91st percentile)
• Hard Contact: hard-hit rate over 52% and a career-high 14.1% barrel rate (91st percentile).

• Plate Discipline: He has refined his approach by dropping his chase rate down to the 95th percentile (20.3% out-of-zone swing rate), driving a high walk rate of 14.4%.

• Value & Production: His breakout year features a 143 wRC+, putting him among the most productive unheralded offensive players for a contending Milwaukee Brewers team. 

[formerlybis]

Bauers has been the Brewers' MVP,

You might get an argument about Turang or Miz, but his ability to play corner outfield positions (albeit not at a high level) and thus allow other important bats to be in the lineup pushes him to the top, IMO. Also seems to be a clubhouse guy, too.

Thinking back to all our expectations at the start of the season, that bolded statement would have been both ludicrous and concerning. 

I'd really like him to be part of the team beyond this year - but I understand how this works, too.

[kestrel79]

Agreed he's my MVP too I think. He's the one steady guy who hasn't really slumped yet all season. Just very consistent. And yeah appears to be vocal in team leadership which flies under the radar.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

So what would it take at this point?

as noted above, a one year QO should probably be extended ($25M?), but he probably will get a bigger deal

hard to overstate what he means to this offense right now.  Ryan O’Hearn (from winter 2025-26) was used as a comp earlier in the summer, but this seems to go beyond that.

2027: $15M
2028: $15M
2029: $18M or $6M buyout

too much, too little?

plays as a 2/36 or 3/48

 

 

 

 

[cragi]

i really enjoy the year Jake is having and the need for his pop in this lineup, and really it goes back to late last season. Rolling the dice on the QO could be worth it just for the possibility of draft picks. 

Still, i would be surprised if the brewers spend on him.  The Brewers treasure defense and minimizing pitches, and I dont think he looks comfortable anywhere. 

1B/3B - Brewers already have Vaughn at 1B and he's been able to carry them also. Ortiz/Hamilton nd Adams/Burke/Williams/Fischer/Made are already competing for 1B/3B next year and there is some real pop in there

OF - Chourio/Mitchell are set and Lara/Frelick competing for 3/4 with Adamczewski/Payne possibly in the mix

So, Brewers lose a little on defense and get an established bat with Bauers but at a cost of blocking others. I doubt that will be worth $20M+ to the team in how they view it. 

[liveforoctober]

It's crazy but I agree Bauers is very possibly a QO guy. There might be a lot of logic there. 

The likelihood of a salary floor being implemented is going to require the Brewers to increase payroll by a low to mid 8 figure number.. and in a "worst case" scenario where Bauers accepts, him getting a big payout for one season (while the young options mature for another year) to help Milwaukee get up to that number instead of giving an inflated contract to a street FA is far more favorable to us IMO.

[Frisbee Slider]

1 hour ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

So what would it take at this point?

as noted above, a one year QO should probably be extended ($25M?), but he probably will get a bigger deal

hard to overstate what he means to this offense right now.  Ryan O’Hearn (from winter 2025-26) was used as a comp earlier in the summer, but this seems to go beyond that.

2027: $15M
2028: $15M
2029: $18M or $6M buyout

too much, too little?

plays as a 2/36 or 3/48

 

 

 

 

Maybe a qualifying offer. But definitely not a multi year deal. There are just too many examples of aging veterans that significantly regress after big paydays.

it can be unsatisfying, but we know Milwaukee operates by replacing veterans with prospects each year

[Brian]

2 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

So what would it take at this point?

as noted above, a one year QO should probably be extended ($25M?), but he probably will get a bigger deal

hard to overstate what he means to this offense right now.  Ryan O’Hearn (from winter 2025-26) was used as a comp earlier in the summer, but this seems to go beyond that.

2027: $15M
2028: $15M
2029: $18M or $6M buyout

too much, too little?

plays as a 2/36 or 3/48

 

 

 

 

I would stick with performance Incentives for Jake.  Wish we would have done that with Yelich. 

[SeaBass]

I would possibly be ok with a QO if there was going to be a season next year but I'm not so sure about how fast the two sides will be able to come to an agreement if at all. I'm not too fond of the idea of him sitting for the better part of a year and then coming back and matching what he's doing now. I hope he gets paid somewhere he deserves it.

[liveforoctober]

13 minutes ago, SeaBass said:

I would possibly be ok with a QO if there was going to be a season next year but I'm not so sure about how fast the two sides will be able to come to an agreement if at all. I'm not too fond of the idea of him sitting for the better part of a year and then coming back and matching what he's doing now. I hope he gets paid somewhere he deserves it.

This is a good point. If he accepts and we don't play - all of his replacements (Burke, Fischer, +) will be ready for '28.

[igor67]

QO is reasonable, though I would guess he tries to sign somewhere else for a big payday.

[Brian]

3 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

So what would it take at this point?

as noted above, a one year QO should probably be extended ($25M?), but he probably will get a bigger deal

hard to overstate what he means to this offense right now.  Ryan O’Hearn (from winter 2025-26) was used as a comp earlier in the summer, but this seems to go beyond that.

2027: $15M
2028: $15M
2029: $18M or $6M buyout

too much, too little?

plays as a 2/36 or 3/48

 

 

 

 

I highly doubt if anyone offers him over $25M. for one year.  

[sveumrules]

There are currently 379 individual Brewers player seasons with at least 400 PA in Franchise History.

As of now Bauers 143 wRC+ is tied with 1978 and 1981 Gorman Thomas for spots #21 to 23 on the leaderboard.

The Top Twenty features Braun (x4), Prince (x3), Yount (x3), Molitor (x2), Cooper (x2), Yelich (x2), 1970 Harper, 1978 Hisle, 1979 Sixto, and 1980 Oglivie. 

[formerlybis]

The whole roster/budget management is beyond my abilities to comprehend what is the "right thing to do". Add that to the uncertainty of next season existing and I have literally less than zero idea.

All's I know is a) he's our best player currently, and b) he has positional flexibility which often comes in handy, and is a particularly valued trait in this organization. 

[tmwiese55]

I probably understand the logic on the QO assuming a pitcher (like say May if he keeps doing well) doesn't require that 20ish mill per year instead.   I know he's been legit good for about a year now, but no way I trust it enough for a 3 year type contract in the 60+ mil range.  A one year can only get you in so much trouble. Anything beyond that better bring the yearly down or be team friendly somehow, like options or a declining salary. 

[liveforoctober]

Holy smokes Bauers is #10 in all of baseball in OPS.

He is going to get MVP votes.

[SeaBass]

19 minutes ago, formerlybis said:

The whole roster/budget management is beyond my abilities to comprehend what is the "right thing to do". Add that to the uncertainty of next season existing and I have literally less than zero idea.

All's I know is a) he's our best player currently, and b) he has positional flexibility which often comes in handy, and is a particularly valued trait in this organization. 

The best offensively perhaps, Bauers has 2.6 fWAR, Miz has 5.4 fWAR and Turang has 4.2 fWAR. Chourio has 2.4 fWAR and he's missed a little time though their plate appearances aren't terribly far off, though Chourio is still behind by several games. A complete player is more than his bat.

[markedman5]

The whole QO thing may not even be around after the next CBA is hashed out.

Lots of horse trading to be done in the negotiations.