BREAKING: First baseman Jake Bauers and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a four-year, $58 million contract, sources tell ESPN.
Red Sox sign first baseman Jake Bauers to four-year, $58-million contract
Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Nov 13, 2026, 13:39 EST
The Boston Red Sox have taken the first swing of the offseason into the position-player market.
On Friday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Red Sox and first baseman Jake Bauers agreed to a four-year, $58-million contract.
Bauers spent the past three seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers and is coming off a breakout 2026 campaign in which he totalled career highs in almost every offensive category.
Across 144 games, Bauers batted .266 with 26 home runs and 86 RBIs. The 31-year-old led the Brewers in home runs, while also recording a team-best .389 on-base percentage, and stole 11 bases in 17 attempts.
After helping lead the Brewers to 103 regular season wins – the most in Major League Baseball – Bauers appeared in all 13 playoff games for Milwaukee en route to its first championship in franchise history.
Over 13 playoff games, Bauers batted .191 with one home run and six RBIs, while turning in a strong .345 OBP. Bauers’ lone home run of the postseason came at a key moment during Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh, Andrew Vaughn worked a leadoff walk off left-hander Blake Snell, who had been almost unhittable to that point in the contest. With a runner on first base down one run, Bauers and Snell engaged in an 11-pitch battle, which came to completion when the Brewers first baseman launched a 97.8 MPH fastball 412 feet into the right field bleachers to change the momentum and give Milwaukee a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
On November 2, a few days following the Brewers’ World Series victory, Bauers was issued a $23.15-million qualifying offer, meaning the Red Sox will forfeit a draft pick as a result of the signing.
Bauers will likely take over the everyday first base duties from Willson Contreras, which should result in Contreras shifting to designated hitter. Bauers is a career .223 hitter with 84 home runs and 297 RBIs across seven MLB seasons.
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