Jake Bauers' Massive 2026 Season Results In Receiving Unexpected Qualifying Offer From Brewers

[Steve Drumwright]

 

If anyone was surprised by the Milwaukee Brewers winning the World Series, hang on because there is something just as shocking that happened Monday.

The Brewers slapped a qualifying offer on first baseman Jake Bauers, guaranteeing the NL Championship Series MVP a $23.15 million contract for 2027 if he accepts.

Bauers was one of eight players to receive the qualifying offer by Monday's 4 p.m. CT deadline. The others are Seattle Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena, New York Yankees right-handed reliever David Bednar, Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe, San Diego Padres left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon, Baltimore Orioles left-handed starter Trevor Rogers and Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki.

All have until Nov. 17 to accept the qualifying offer and return to their team or choose to hit free agency, where negotiations are likely to be hampered by accompanying draft-pick compensation.

It is quite the change in career trajectory for Bauers. Just two offseasons ago, he was nontendered by the Brewers as he was set to retire from baseball after putting up a paltry slash line of .199/.301/.361 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 116 games. But shortly after being nontendered, Bauers' wife revealed she was pregnant, so the first baseman re-signed with the Brewers so that they had health insurance.

Fast-forward to 2026 and Bauers, who made $2.7 million this season in his last year eligible for arbitration, led the Brewers during the regular season with 26 homers while driving in 86 runs while posting a slash line of .266/.389/.484. He then was a huge part of the Brewers' run to their first World Series championship, particularly against the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. There, Bauers went 4-for-14, but drove in six runs, including a huge two-run homer to cap an 11-pitch at-bat in the seventh inning of Game 3 that put the Brewers on top 3-2 in what would be a 6-2 victory. The homer happened just after he hit a long foul ball that would have been a homer. The Brewers would sweep the Dodgers in four games.

Bauers had been projected by some outlets to receive a three-year contract with an average annual value of around $15 million. Now, the Brewers will pay him $23.15 million if he accepts.

 

Image courtesy of USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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[izzi]

I'm hoping we only did this so that when Jake rejects it we get a compensatory pick. 

[ChapelHeel66]

I like Bauers but I hope he turns this down.  He has had one good year, and he will be 32. We are going to allocate 15% of our payroll to him?  We could sign Goldschmidt for $5-ish.  We could put Fischer there with Vaughn.  We could sign Ward for almost half that and play him at 1b (a not-great 3b at one point should be able to play 1b).

i don’t get it.

[biedergb]

43 minutes ago, izzi said:

I'm hoping we only did this so that when Jake rejects it we get a compensatory pick. 

The team has to be comfortable with paying him to extend the QO.  Like last year with woodruff.  Maybe there will be interest in a multi year deal for him, but if not he is an expensive 1 year bridge to Burke/Fischer.  And with the extra cash from the playoffs this may be a bet Mark A and Matt A may be willing to make - a one year vet salary to keep the position secure while two big prospects continue to develop.  And if another team offer multiple years, he likely takes that and we get a comp pick.  

[sveumrules]

29 minutes ago, ChapelHeel66 said:

I like Bauers but I hope he turns this down.  He has had one good year, and he will be 32. We are going to allocate 15% of our payroll to him?  We could sign Goldschmidt for $5-ish.  We could put Fischer there with Vaughn.  We could sign Ward for almost half that and play him at 1b (a not-great 3b at one point should be able to play 1b).

i don’t get it.

Bauers doesn't turn 32 until October of next year, he'll be playing his age 31 season in 2027.

Goldschmidt has 1,050 PA over the last three years against RHP with a 77 wRC+. He should be a short side only platoon bat at this point with 517 PA of 157 wRC+ vs LHP over that same stretch.

Between the strikeouts and limited professional reps at 1B, Fischer has plenty to work on in AAA if Bauers does indeed accept the QO. If he doesn't sign a pre-debut extension and the new CBA doesn't drastically change how service time is calculated he'd likely spend some time in AAA to start the season anyway to get that extra year of team control. Pratt & Lara signed pre-debut extensions and they still let them marinate for awhile.

Ward isn't as extreme as Goldy, but still does most of his damage versus southpaws (130 wRC+ vs LHP last three years compared to a 106 wRC+ vs RHP), is two years older than Bauers, and put up -8 DRS | -7 FRV in his 353 innings at 3B (with most of that coming all the way back in 2018). It'd be a pretty big risk to assume he could play competent defense as a primary 1B for a full season (especially on a team with World Series aspirations).

[rickh150]

If he takes it, Vaughn is gone. If he doesn’t then it’s Vaughn and a good minor league lefty option at 1B….and a draft pick.
Great options to have!

[gregmag]

1 hour ago, rickh150 said:

If he takes it, Vaughn is gone. If he doesn’t then it’s Vaughn and a good minor league lefty option at 1B….and a draft pick.
Great options to have!

Exactly. This isn’t remotely shocking. If Bauers accepts the QO, there’s a decent chance he’ll earn that salary, and it’s only a one-year commitment. If he turns us down, we get compensation. Easy decision for the Brewers. 

[rafa79]

Bauers has made $9.44 million while playing 7 years in MLB.  The QO is $23.15 for one year!

Some people are saying he'll reject it because he'll want more years via a free agent contract. I disagree and think he's changed his shorts 2 or 3 times already. 

If Bauers comes down a little and his numbers are about 75% of what they were this year, some team will give him a 2-year deal after 2027 for no less than $18 million.  That would line up with what the pundits are calling for him to get in free agency this year, about $14 million per year.  However, in my example, he stays one more year with the World Series champs, a place he and his family like alot and he still makes a lot of money.

This is Woodruff #2, where Woodruff literally chuckled (really, I saw the video) when he said it was a super easy decision for him last year.

 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

53 minutes ago, rafa79 said:

 

 where Woodruff literally chuckled (really, I saw the video) 

 

 

As did I when you talked about Bauers having to change his shorts.