MILWAUKEE -- Jake Bauers’ breakout season has netted him a major payday with the Red Sox -- and puts the Brewers in position to reap a premium pick in next year’s Draft.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand confirmed a report that Bauers has agreed to a four-year, $58 million contract with Boston after hitting .266/.389/.484 with a team-high 26 home runs for the Brewers during a career year in his age-30 season that extended through a memorable postseason, when he was NLCS MVP.
Because the Brewers extended Bauers a qualifying offer once he hit free agency, and because Bauers is moving to another club for more than $50 million, the Brewers stand to receive a compensation pick between the end of the first round and the start of Competitive Balance Round A in next year’s Draft.
The last time the Brewers were in a similar position was coming off the 2024 season, when shortstop Willy Adames received a qualifying offer before signing a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Giants. In that instance, the Brewers received an additional pick in the 2025 Draft at No. 32 overall and used it to select California prep shortstop Brady Ebel. Today, Ebel is the Brewers’ No. 4-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline and ranks No. 93 on the Top 100.
Bauers leaves a big hole in Milwaukee, however, both for what he meant to the Brewers’ run to the first World Series title in franchise history, with epic at-bats in the NLDS against the Padres and in the NLCS against the Dodgers, and for what he did at first base. The Brewers’ right-handed-hitting complement to the left-handed-hitting Bauers, Andrew Vaughn, is in his final year of arbitration eligibility this winter. In the Minors, the leading candidate is 23-year-old Blake Burke (Brewers No. 12 prospect), a left-handed hitter who slashed .263/.350/.538 with 34 homers and 29 stolen bases between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville in 2026.