Will Andrew Vaughn Solve a 15-Year Problem for the Brewers?

Last week, the Brewers declined their team option on first baseman Rhys Hoskins. They now enter another offseason needing to carefully evaluate their options at the position. They've been looking for a new first baseman almost every offseason, for a long time. Ever since Prince Fielder signed a nine-year, $214-million deal with the Detroit Tigers in January 2012, it’s been a revolving door at first base in Milwaukee. 

The issue may be larger than most realize. The Brewers have not had the same first baseman for 100 or more games in back-to-back seasons since Fielder was on the team, from 2005 to 2011. Fielder filled the lineup card’s first-base slot in 930 of his 998 games with Milwaukee and was the most consistent bat in their lineup over that time.

Fielder helped the team end a streak of playing at or below .500 for 14 consecutive seasons in 2007, when he stepped into league-wide stardom by hitting a career-high 50 home runs. The next season, he, CC Sabathia, J.J. Hardy, Ben Sheets, and the 2008 squad dominated down the stretch to get the Brewers to their first postseason in 26 years. 

All told, Fielder put together an impressive seven-year stretch in Milwaukee. He accumulated 16.8 bWAR, 230 home runs, and 656 RBI, and posted a .282/.390/.540 slash line, a 13.4% walk rate, and an 18.5% strikeout rate. Those are hard numbers to come by for first basemen today.     

Since the beginning of the 2012 season, the Brewers have tried 16 different players as regulars at first, and no one has seemed to stick. Hoskins is just the latest example. The Brewers had hoped he could cure what has ailed them at the cold corner, but Hoskins only played 94 games at first in 2024 and 82 this season. At the plate, things didn’t hum as well as Hoskins or the Brewers had hoped. He put up decent power numbers in 2024, with 26 home runs and 82 RBI, but saw his slash line drop to career-low marks in all three categories: .214/.303/.419 and a 99 OPS+ in 131 games. 

This year, Hoskins played in only 90 games, as he battled recurring discomfort in his left thumb during the second half of the year. His numbers were only somewhat better, and Andrew Vaughn rendered him virtually obsolete during his stint on the shelf.

So what gives? Is this just the curse of Fielder’s departure to play for the team with whom his father made his name, or is there something more to it? 

The most games any player has played at first in a single season since Fielder’s departure was Chris Carter in 2016, with 155. The most games they’ve gotten from any player at first in multiple seasons over the last 15 years is the 269 played by Jesós Aguilar, from 2017-2019. 

Here’s the full list of players with a minimum of 45 games at first for the Brewers since 2012, broken down by season. 

• Corey Hart, 2012, 103 games 
• Yuniesky Betancourt, 2013 - 68 games
• Juan Francisco, 2013 - 67 games 
• Mark Reynolds, 2014 - 91 games
• Lyle Overbay, 2014 - 83 games
• Adam Lind, 2015 - 138 games 
• Chris Carter, 2016 - 155 games
• Eric Thames, 2017 - 108 games
• Jesus Aguilar, 2017 - 77 games
• Jesus Aguilar, 2018 - 132 games
• Eric Thames, 2019 - 105 games
• Jesus Aguilar, 2019 - 60 games
• Justin Smoak, 2020 - 31 games
• Jedd Gyrko, 2020 - 30 games
• Daniel Vogelbauch, 2021 - 59 games
• Keston Hirua, 2021 - 49 games
• Rowdy Tellez, 2021 - 46 games
• Rowdy Tellez, 2022 - 139 games
• Rowdy Tellez, 2023 - 76 games
• Carlos Santana, 2023 - 50 games
• Rhys Hoskins, 2024 - 94 games
• Jake Bauers, 2024 - 76 games
• Rhys Hoskins, 2025 - 82 games 
• Andrew Vaughn, 2025 - 64 games
• Jake Bauers, 2025 - 40 games 

The Brewers have tried several things to fill the gap left by Fielder. They’ve moved fan favorites like Hart from their original position in the outfield to first. They brought in successful journeymen on one-year deals (Reynolds, Gyorko, and Carter), only to let them walk again in free agency the next offseason. Aguilar ended up as one of the best waiver claims by the Brewers in the last decade, only to be traded when Thames resurged from a down 2018 season. Hiura looked to be holding down second base for a long time, only to flame out quickly at the plate and at first base, making room for Tellez. 

The only thing the Brewers haven’t tried is to sign a free-agent first baseman to a long-term deal to lock the position down for several years at once. As the roster currently stands, Vaughn and Bauers look to be penciled in as the solutions for 2026, in a modified platoon that gives Vaughn a bigger share than a typical righty in such an arrangement

After seeing their first attempt at a two-year deal to fix their issue at first base fail, the Brewers will be unlikely to sign any similar veteran to a long-term deal. Vaughn and Bauers will be free agents after the 2027 season, so there is still plenty of time left for one of them to be the first Brewers first baseman to play 100 or more games at the position since Fielder.

There are also corner infield prospects who may make a case further down the road. Andrew Fischer, ranked as the Brewers' 6th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, joined the organization in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Luke Adams, a 12th-round pick from 2022, ranks as their 8th-best prospect on the same list. 

First base is a position where most major-league teams see a revolving door from year to year. For example, since the division rival Cubs traded away their longtime first baseman, Anthony Rizzo, to the Yankees in 2021, they only had four players play 45 or more games at first before handing Michael Busch the full-time role in 2024. The Boston Red Sox, a team more willing to spend big on first basemen in free agency, have only had 12 players play 45 or more games in a season for them since 2012, with Mike Napoli (2013-2014) and Mitch Moreland (2017-2018) both having 100 or more games for them in consecutive seasons at first base. 

But the Brewers are in a unique position since Fielder’s departure. To go from one of the most consistent players at one position for seven years, then 15 consecutive seasons with a new face playing the most games there is unheard of.

Maybe the player to end this streak is already on the parent club, coming up through the farm system, or a free agent they’ll take a chance on after all. But for now, it looks as though the player who will get the most starting time at first over the next few years is in the organization right now, and it’s just a matter of someone playing well enough to keep the starting role.