The Brewers have a championship to celebrate, but the work ahead starts with keeping some of the right pieces in place. Among Milwaukee’s pending free agents, Jake Bauers stands out as the most obvious name the club should try to bring back after its World Series run.
Bauers gave the Brewers real value from start to finish. At 31, he put together a regular season that made him more than just a supporting bat, hitting .266 with 26 home runs and 86 RBIs.
His .874 OPS tied for 10th in MLB, and his 3.3 WAR backed up the idea that his impact went well beyond the box score. He even hit lefties slightly better than righties, by 0.01 percentage point.
That kind of production is hard to let walk, especially for a team trying to defend a title. Bauers added another power source to the lineup and gave Milwaukee a hitter who could flip a game with one swing. If the Brewers are serious about keeping their core intact, he belongs near the top of the list.
He carried that value into October, too. Bauers hit only .191 in the postseason, but he still finished with nine hits, six RBIs and one home run. His slow start in the NLDS dragged down the average, though he settled in later when Milwaukee needed offense from across the lineup.
The strikeouts were a concern. Bauers struck out 19 times in the postseason, and that is not nothing. But the larger body of work matters more, and his regular-season numbers paint the clearer picture of what he offered this team.
Milwaukee does not have to get aggressive with a long-term deal to keep him. A two-year contract, possibly with a player or club option, would give the Brewers some protection while rewarding a player who mattered in a championship season.
Bauers also fits what the roster already has. Christian Yelich, Brice Turang, Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell are already part of the group of prominent left-handed hitters. Even so, Bauers’ power still gives him a place in that mix.
The Brewers should not let a productive player slip away when he has already shown he can help them win. A shorter deal would help preserve continuity without tying the club to a risky commitment if his numbers dip.
Winning the World Series gives Milwaukee room to breathe, and that makes sense after such a long postseason. But sooner rather than later, the front office has to turn to the future.
William Contreras is another key name to monitor. He has a club option for next season, and the expectation should be that Milwaukee picks it up. The Brewers should also look into an extension to keep their star catcher beyond that.
Even so, Contreras’ situation should not push Bauers down the priority list. Bauers has earned a strong look after what he did at the plate and in the postseason.
The Brewers do not need to tear anything down after winning it all. What they do need is to keep the right players around, and Bauers has done enough to warrant a new deal. A two-year contract with an option would give Milwaukee a sensible way to retain him without taking on unnecessary risk.
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The praise matters because it came from the other dugout, where every late-inning decision was being studied pitch by pitch. Milwaukee leaned on a deep, composed relief group all October, and the way it closed out this title run only reinforced how central that bullpen was to the championship formula, even if the individual names behind it are the kind of detail Brewers fans will remember for a long time. [Read more 🡒]