Analyst Predicts Jake Bauers Will Leave Brewers for Diamondbacks
MLB analyst Paul Hembekides predicts free agent Jake Bauers will leave the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers for Arizona on a three-year deal. An MLB executive questions whether his career year can be repeated.
MLB analyst Paul "Hembo" Hembekides predicted that free agent Jake Bauers will leave the Milwaukee Brewers and sign a three-year, $54 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. It is a forecast, not a reported agreement.
Bauers is a free agent after a career year with the Brewers, the reigning World Series champions. He received a qualifying offer, but he can decline it and sign elsewhere this offseason.
MLB free agency is officially underway. The general managers' meetings are also taking place, which could lead to some movement.
"He's going to land in Arizona at three years for $54 million," Hembekides said. "They have no answer in the short term at first base."
Hembekides argued that Bauers' production is more sustainable than many believe. "I don't think he is a product of Milwaukee's genius; I think he will keep on hitting, I think he will do it in Arizona," he said.
Bauers hit .266 with 26 home runs and 86 RBIs this past season. He was the NLCS MVP, and his bat was a large part of Milwaukee's offense on the way to the World Series.
The Brewers acquired him from the New York Yankees in November 2023 for minor league outfielders Jace Avina and Brian Sánchez. Bauers struggled in the majors for years before things clicked in Milwaukee.
Questions about his market
Not everyone is sure the breakout will last. One MLB executive described Bauers as a player who had a career year after being essentially a league-average hitter over the course of his career.
"He's 31, but the season he put together is really legit," the executive said. The home runs and RBIs, the executive added, match what he produced in the previous three or four years combined.
The executive still likes him as a target at first base. "It's nice that he can theoretically go play in the outfield if you need him to, but realistically he's a guy you should be targeting to play first base, especially as he ages into his thirties," the executive said.
Where Bauers will sign, and for how much, is not yet known. Neither the Brewers nor the Diamondbacks have commented on the prediction.
