Brewers sign key role player to one-year deal ahead of non-tender deadline

There were seemingly two options when it came to Jake Bauers' contract situation as the deadline to tender contracts to eligible players drew closer, with the outcome serving as an indication of the Milwaukee Brewers' financial situation for the rest of the offseason. Those two options were either to tender Bauers a contract, making him re-enter the arbitration process, where he was projected to earn a salary of $2 million by MLB Trade Rumors, or cut him loose and replace him with a cheaper option as the team's left-handed option at first base. As is often the case with the Brewers' savvy front office, a third option was chosen, but it does give fans an even better sense of the health of the organization's payroll after all.

As just announced by the team, Bauers has agreed to a one-year, $2.7 million contract with the Brewers for the 2026 season, avoiding both the non-tender deadline and the arbitration process altogether. The $2.7 million figure, which was originally announced by MLB insider Jon Heyman, is considerably higher than the $2 million he was expected to make during his final year of arbitration eligibility, suggesting that the Brewers' payroll is not nearly as tight as some folks expected it would be after Brandon Woodruff agreed to the qualifying offer earlier this week.

Brewers bring Jake Bauers back on one-year, $2.7 million deal ahead of this afternoon's non-tender deadline, avoiding arbitration process

Despite the fact that Bauers was a candidate to be "non-tendered" this afternoon, he remains a valuable piece of the Brewers' roster, and one that could be looking at a larger role in 2026. Not only does Bauers offer exceptional power at the plate, but he also is a plus defender at first base, a capable defender in a corner outfield position, and he offers impressive athleticism on the basepaths.

Alongside Andrew Vaughn, who the Brewers are expected to officially tender a contract to later this afternoon, Bauers forms a formidable platoon at first base. He remains an option to cover a corner outfield spot as well, but with Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Isaac Collins, Blake Perkins, Brandon Lockridge, and an even healthier Christian Yelich all in line to see time in the outfield in 2026 barring a major offseason trade, at-bats might be hard to come by.

The decision does have an adverse effect on prospect Tyler Black's career trajectory, as the former Top 100 prospect is another left-handed first-base option. However, Black's natural defensive home still might be in the corner outfield, and with his major league offensive acumen still unproven, electing to keep Bauers around for another season at a modest salary was the safe choice.

Milwaukee still has to decide whether or not to tender contracts to William Contreras, Andrew Vaughn, Trevor Megill, Brice Turang, Nick Mears, and Garrett Mitchell before the 4:00 p.m. CT today. While most of those will be relatively easy decisions, the deadline does force some teams to make creative moves, so it's possible that Matt Arnold and company have a very busy Friday afternoon.