Bauers Qualifying Offer

[wallus]

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

Again with the Black talk...

I don't get it.  

He's on the 40 man and plays first base. What's not to get? 

[TURBO]

10 minutes ago, wallus said:

He's on the 40 man and plays first base. What's not to get? 

The Brewers have not shown that they think he is a guy they can use.

When he's been up, he never gets at bats.  When he gets at bats, he stinks.

He doesn't seem like a guy we have any faith in, and is just a guy, wasting a 40 man spot.

He doesn't have a position, he is nothing but an afterthought, yet I've been seeing several people posting about him the past few days, as if he is an option.  He isn't.

[da swedish german]

7 hours ago, TURBO said:

The Brewers have not shown that they think he is a guy they can use.

When he's been up, he never gets at bats.  When he gets at bats, he stinks.

He doesn't seem like a guy we have any faith in, and is just a guy, wasting a 40 man spot.

He doesn't have a position, he is nothing but an afterthought, yet I've been seeing several people posting about him the past few days, as if he is an option.  He isn't.

but he IS an option. as these posters pointed out. that's all they did

yet you act as though they are advocating for him to be the option.  

did you enjoy the world series win? 

[Outlander]

Black is part of the platoon at 1B if Bauers doesn't come back. It wouldn't be a straight platoon with Vaughn but may be the way to go at least to start the season until they call up one of the younger left handed first basemen.

[MrTPlush]

12 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

I both agree with this post... and then find it obnoxious. Are we not better than the "glazing" nonsense?

That's... Twitter hyperbole and it's pretty low-brow and pretty vulgar.

I don't know who has a .776 OPS. 
I went through and looked, I figured maybe Contreras. Not him. Yelich... I think he's respected because of his past.

Chourio or Pratt were the two closest(though neither matched perfectly)... but you're talking about two elite defensive players who also didn't get platooned. They didn't get ALMOST exclusively the preferably matchups. They didn't just not let Vaughn hit vs righties. They played Ortiz and Vaughn in a very similar way. Not having them face guys who threw a lot of sweepers and sliders and letting them face pitchers who matched their strengths. 4 steamers, changeups, even curveballs, up and down vs East and West style pitches. 


So I'm not sure who you're talking about. If we're comparing a RHHed hitter who crushes lefties to the tune of a ~.980 OPS and won a Gold Glove(again, IF you're talking about Chourio) or if it's someone who plays for another team, but... it's an Apples to Oranges comparison. 


The way people worry about Vaughn though! The Brewers will figure this out. I'd probably prefer we keep Bauers for a year, use Adams to be the other half of the platoon and then lose Bauers and go with Black as the other half of a Vaughn platoon. But I do think Vaughn has a LOT of ability, could get better and could be an .800 OPS as a full time starter in which the Brewers just let him play vs whoever is on the mound with only the occasional day off vs a tough righty. 
 

It is Chourio, though I see I was off .002

I don’t think it is completely an apples to oranges thing. Chourio’s defense is irrelevant to the matter. The pondering is, does Vaughn struggle to hit righties notably more than other players, especially if we decided to deep dive into more average players beyond clickbait comparisons to Chourio/Contreras? His career numbers would say no. Some of his years would say he is arguably above average.

I won’t pretend to really know what is baked into his righty numbers. Certainly towards the end of the year he was getting pretty strong preferential treatment on who he went up against, but I don’t know if that was necessarily the case earlier in the year or midway through games.

Of course I’m doubting Vaughn replicates either his numbers against righties or lefties next year. If the Brewers thought that could happen we would just roll with Vaughn. He is probably a .750 OPS bat.

But even if we just chalked up Vaughn as a platoon player, I really don’t get why that is always a big negative to many. No one can play every single and we have done a pretty good job having versatile guys on the bench. We can afford to have a platoon at 1B if we wanted to or someone like Vaughn on the roster who is not very versatile. Dang shame Yelich clogs up the DH spot and is too fragile to put at 1B.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

28 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

 

But even if we just chalked up Vaughn as a platoon player, I really don’t get why that is always a big negative to many. No one can play every single game and we have done a pretty good job having versatile guys on the bench. We can afford to have a platoon at 1B if we wanted to or someone like Vaughn on the roster who is not very versatile. Dang shame Yelich clogs up the DH spot and is too fragile to put at 1B.

I don't get that either. Too many think of it like a video game, i.e. Miz needs to close Game 4 of a series you're winning 3-0. There's a ton of ABs to go around for non-starters. I can think of way worse than Andrew Vaughn getting those ABs. I mean, Yelich is worse, but Gary Sanchez, Joey Ortiz...we're not far removed from those types being our PHs.

[TURBO]

3 hours ago, da swedish german said:

but he IS an option. as these posters pointed out. that's all they did

yet you act as though they are advocating for him to be the option.  

did you enjoy the world series win? 

I will agree to disagree.  I'm not acting like anything, I'm simply wondering why anyone thinks that Black is a true option.  

Did I enjoy the world series win?  What does that even mean?  

[tmwiese55]

I fully agree the 'Vaugnn is only a platoon who can't hit righties type' became way overblown this year.  He was used that way due to our team being so lefty heavy and Bauers getting on a heater.  But an upper 700s OPS is perfectly fine in today's hitting landscape.   Guys who have normal season OPSs in that world start all over the league and get 100+ mil contracts.     The overall point people are getting at is that if Bauers leaves, we can trust and have some strong confidence that we're going to get perfectly adequate 1B numbers from Vaughn on a 1/9ish type deal, which is a bargain these days.  Sure, he won't be Pete Alonzo or prime Freeman, but he also doesn't have 150 mil attached to him

[formerlybis]

If Bauers leaves and Vaughn is the primary 1B, I think they might try to find a journeyman-type backup rather than any of the minor leaguers ... or, going a little outside the box, maybe give Yelich a try

[endaround]

Vaughn is cheap at $9 million for a guy who would be a reasonable starter at 1B or DH.

It is important to note that Yelich's playoffs are overshadowing his bad year.  In many ways, Vaughn as a full time DH with Yelich getting occasional playing time would be better.  Yelich may also hit a cliff this upcoming season.  He had a barely playable at DH wRC+ of 99 versus RH pitching.  The risk of Yelich just not having it anymore plus his ongoing health concerns means you want depth here.

I'm as big a supporter of Adams as anyone and miffed he didn't get into the top 5 minor league hitters on this website.  A wRC+ of 149 in AAA is very, very good.  However, his inability to stay healthy is an issue.  He has not had a full season of PAs in either 2025 or 2026. Hard to rely on him to be depth until he can show he is available.

Burke was lost in AAA and needs to prove himself there. Similarly Fisher is another high K guy who should at least show he can handle AAA pitching before being promoted.  The Brewers track record with high K prospects is not great.

Would you move on from Vaughn if you were expecting to win 75 games giving minor league depth? Easily. But when you are going for 95+ wins, depth is important.

[thebruce44]

I think posters here are really underselling what Vaughn has done against lefties and righties since he came to the Brewers and has been healthy. Like dramatically underselling. I could see the argument that its a small sample size and you don't think it will continue, but since the trade, when healthy, Vaughn has mashed everyone.

[wiguy94]

The more I've thought about it, I think Bauers signs the QO unless he and his agent have strong indications that punishments for signing a qualified player will be removed in the next CBA. As it currently stands one of the biggest market teams would need to give up their 2nd and 5th highest picks plus $1M in IFA bonus pool to sign Bauers. Bauers had an amazing 2026 season and end to his 2025 season but this is still a guy with a very limited track record of being a high level player and he's 31. 

[wiguy94]

13 hours ago, wallus said:

He's on the 40 man and plays first base. What's not to get? 

Will he actually be on the 40 man come ST next year? He's out of options now and is coming off another pretty underwhelming season in AAA

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

Jack and Spencer think that there is no chance that all 3 of Bauers, Contreras, Vaughn are on the team next year and it makes sense. Contreras I think they’d prefer to keep.

If Bauers does accept this qualifying offer, I’m inclined to believe they’ll then trade Vaughn. Luke Adams given his MLB shot probably if that’s the case. Likewise if Bauers declines this offer and leaves, probably then keep Vaughn and sign a FA to replace Bauers for a year. Tyler Black still on the 40 man but doubt he’s viewed as a possible short term Bauers replacement before Burke or Fischer is ready. If Bauers accepts this QO Black is probably soon to be a throw in in a trade, even if they lose Bauers, Black probably not in the plans

Just doubt they’d wanna pay $32 mil combined for Bauers and Vaughn next year so it’s one or the other.

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

which would you rather have next year at first base?:

LBH Bauers/RHB Luke Adams platoon for combined $24 mil

RHB Vaughn and LBH T. Black/cheap free agent for $10-15 mil (Black or FA is just placeholder til Burke or Fischer is ready)

also if they are paying Bauers that much he likely wouldn’t be much of a platoon anyways and Adams ABs would be spotty

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

Also people laugh now but I’m ready for the Brock Wilken/Tyler Black 1B platoon to put up 40 HR, 110 RBI, 10 combined WAR in 2027

[JCREW]

37 minutes ago, JoeyWiemerTruther said:

Also people laugh now but I’m ready for the Brock Wilken/Tyler Black 1B platoon to put up 40 HR, 110 RBI, 10 combined WAR in 2027

I think my ideal Tyler Black scenario is for him to become an all-star for the A's or some other team that doesn't seem to value defense, and in the trade we snag some pitcher, run him through the H & H car wash, and make him nice and shiny.

[RWeeksFan23]

give me both Bauers AND Vaughn again next year. May be expensive, but it ain't my money! 

Run this back baby.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, JoeyWiemerTruther said:

which would you rather have next year at first base?:

LBH Bauers/RHB Luke Adams platoon for combined $24 mil

RHB Vaughn and LBH T. Black/cheap free agent for $10-15 mil (Black or FA is just placeholder til Burke or Fischer is ready)

also if they are paying Bauers that much he likely wouldn’t be much of a platoon anyways and Adams ABs would be spotty

In that scenario Adams probably gets some DH ABs that Yelich doesn't (vs LHP), but yeah Bauers certainly gets ABs vs both hands.

If Bauers is gone it'll be real interesting to see how they view Fischer/Burke. There's nothing there to indicate either is ready. In that event I'm not so sure Adams doesn't make the team even though it would mean there's no L-R platoon at 1B.

Having a RH option that can DH might be the hidden nugget in all this. Of course Adams has to put the injury bug behind him.

[markedman5]

I will be surprised if Black continues to be on the 40 man next season.

Think it’s more likely he is traded or DFA 

 

[Jopal78]

10 hours ago, markedman5 said:

I will be surprised if Black continues to be on the 40 man next season.

Think it’s more likely he is traded or DFA 

 

Agreed. Black is a player without a home. His offensive profile isn’t compelling as a corner infielder/outfielder. His defensive limitations and throwing arm make him a poor fit as a utility player.

He will be 27 and is out of options. When they need a 40 man roster spot it’s a pretty easy call to make. But the good news for him is at least he will get a WS ring

[DonBarclay]

12 hours ago, markedman5 said:

I will be surprised if Black continues to be on the 40 man next season.

Think it’s more likely he is traded or DFA 

 

I don’t think his trade value is much more than a bag of balls at this point, unfortunately. Out of options, no power profile, and severe defensive limitations. Some 95+ loss team probably would take a flier on him for a non-prospect lottery ticket, but that’s about it. Only possible way he sticks in Milwaukee is if Bauers declines the QO and they feel like Black can be a lefty platoon mate for Vaughn for 2 months while Burke and Fischer get AAA ABs. I’d put that at about 3% likelihood. 

[CheezWizHed]

I just don't see it for Black personally.  He has had his opportunities and didn't succeed with them.  You can see how the team has handled him and that should be a pretty good clue about what they think about him.  

There is a small opportunity - if Bauers doesn't accept the QO - for him to pair with Vaughn until Burke comes up in (probably June if all goes well).  But the club doesn't seem to be prioritizing him anymore.

I would put money down that he is traded in the offseason.  Bauers came to us for a pair of lottery tickets; Black might be the same. Or just added to a larger trade.  

I wonder what Kashi has on his future?