The Red Sox have reached an agreement on a four-year, $58-million contract with free agent first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, a source confirmed.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report the deal.
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Bauers received and declined a $23.15 million qualifying offer from the Brewers, so should the compensation rules remain after the completion of the next CBA, the Red Sox will give up their second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2027 draft to sign him after going over the CBT threshold in 2026.
The Red Sox plan to use Bauers primarily as their designated hitter while also cycling him in at first base in an effort to get Willson Contreras off his feet more often in 2027, a source said. Last year for the Brewers, Bauers started 86 games at first base, 28 games in right field, 12 games in left field and four games at DH. Contreras grades out as a better defender and is therefore going to still get the majority of innings at first but having Bauers in the mix will allow Contreras to be more fresh after a series of late-season injuries limited him to just 28 games after Aug. 1.
MORE: What Jake Bauers signing means for Red Sox roster, Willson Contreras’ role, Masataka Yoshida & more
Bauers isn’t expected to see much time in the outfield with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran and Eli White all on the roster. Signing him increases the chances that the Red Sox will trade Duran — and seems to point to the end of Masataka Yoshida’s time in Boston. Yoshida is entering the last season of his five-year, $90 million deal and looks like a change-of-scenery candidate.
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Bauers taking the majority of the DH at-bats also means Curtis Mead should be ticketed for the starting second base role. The DH spot would have been an option for Mead if the Sox had signed or traded for another second baseman.
Bauers, 31, enjoyed a breakout season for the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers in 2026. He hit .266 with a .389 on-base percentage, .484 slugging percentage and .874 OPS in 144 games (578 plate appearances). He set career-highs in home runs (26), doubles (22), RBIs (86) and runs (93). He posted a 3.6 fWAR. He was selected as the MVP of the NLCS after the Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He had an excellent year with advanced metrics, ranking in the 91st percentile or higher in hard-hit percentage (51.9%), bat speed (76.5 mph), expected weighted on-base percentage (.371), barrel percentage (14.0%), chase percentage (21.7%) and walk percentage (16.3%).
Bauers, a left-handed hitter, had been with four other teams — the Rays, Guardians, Mariners and Yankees — before finally settling in with the Brewers the past three seasons. He signed with Milwaukee before the 2025 season and earned $1.35 million in 2025 and $2.7 million in 2026. So the deal with Boston represents a significant raise.
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He had a minus-0.4 fWAR entering 2026 and so his career WAR now is at just 3.2.
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