Red Sox Must Cut Two Struggling Players To Sign Jake Bauers

The Boston Red Sox ranked 26th in home runs last season.

Adding power is a priority this offseason.

Jake Bauers just led the Milwaukee Brewers with 26 home runs.

He won the National League Championship Series MVP.

He is nominated for two Silver Slugger Awards — as a utility player and as a first baseman.

He is a World Series champion.

And the Red Sox have no obvious place to put him.

Their infield is already set.

Caleb Durbin, Trevor Story, Curtis Mead, Willson Contreras and Adley Rutschman are expected to be the regular infield alignment.

Their outfield is also set.

Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu will be the regular outfielders.

The only infield spot that could change is shortstop, and that could simply be Franklin Arias replacing Story.

That leaves left field and designated hitter as rotation spots between Anthony, Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida.

Yoshida is reportedly unlikely to return.

Duran is once again a common name in trade rumors.

The report from Yardbarker says the Red Sox should get rid of both of them and sign Bauers.

That means moving on from two struggling players to make room for one who just had a breakout season at age 30.

Bauers can rotate in as a designated hitter, first baseman and outfielder.

He played left field for the Brewers this year.

He is a solid option there if the Red Sox ever need to get Anthony off his feet.

But he may be best served as a designated hitter sharing first base with Contreras.

He is not a great defender.

More time as a designated hitter could make sense.

Bauers has great power.

He does not chase pitches outside the zone.

He draws walks at a 16.3% rate.

He is a quality bat who would fit well into the Red Sox lineup without forcing a huge lineup shuffle.

Here is the background on Bauers' unlikely journey.

From 2018 to 2024, he bounced around the league.

He played for the Rays, Guardians, Mariners, Yankees and Brewers.

After the 2024 season, he had a career line of .208/.302/.361 in 1,744 plate appearances.

The Brewers put him on waivers.

All 29 other clubs passed.

Bauers became a free agent.

He told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was planning to retire at that time.

His wife would return to teaching.

Then she became pregnant.

Bauers decided to keep playing.

He returned to the Brewers on a minor league deal.

He made the Opening Day roster in 2025.

Through most of the season, he still was not doing much.

He had a .188/.314/.338 line at the end of August.

Something clicked after that.

Bauers put up a .360/.458/.560 line in September and October.

The Brewers tendered him a contract for 2026 worth $2.7 million.

That bet paid off.

In 2026, Bauers hit 26 home runs.

He drew walks at a massive 16.3% clip.

He slashed .266/.389/.484 for a 143 wRC+.

His 143 wRC+ ranked seventh in the majors and second in the National League, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong.

His 16.3% walk rate tied for the fourth-highest in the majors.

He ranked 10th in the majors with 94 walks.

His .874 OPS was tied with Gabriel Moreno for the sixth-highest in the NL.

Under the hood, the breakout does not look like a fluke.

His average exit velocity was 92.1 mph.

His barrel rate was 14%.

His hard-hit rate was 51.9%.

His xwOBA was .371.

His chase rate was 21.7%.

His walk rate was 16.3%.

His xwOBAcon was .454.

His bat speed was 76.5 mph.

All of those numbers ranked in the majors' 91st percentile or better.

Bauers has always been a high strikeout bat.

2026 was no different.

But he also walked at the highest rate of his career and maintained a pristine chase rate.

There was no longer a need to platoon him.

He posted a .901 OPS against lefties in 2026.

He also got better as the stakes got higher.