The Boston Red Sox won the Jake Bauers sweepstakes. The line didn’t wrap around the block, but after such an impressive season through the end of October with the World Series Champion Milwaukee Brewers, it’s difficult to not at least be a little excited to see him do the same in Beantown.
Bauers had a surprisingly low number of games at DH for the Brewers last season, with only 4. Mostly a first baseman with right field and left field experience, his existence on the Red Sox roster will help to make three others less needed.
The first significant free agent position player to sign has immediate fallout for the team that added him. It won’t be fellow first baseman Willson Contreras suffering the consequences either.
Masataka Yoshida
The Red Sox never seemed satisfied with what Masataka Yoshida gave them. The Bauers signing gives them more incentive to try to move him. He was such a liability on defense back in 2023 that they decided to basically put him in a DH role. This has evolved into Yoshida being a part-time player. Not much of a power hitter at all, he is in some ways underappreciated with his ability to make contact at a high rate and hit for average.
Yoshida is still a career .280 hitter and even had a .746 OPS last season. Plugged in as the left-handed half of a DH platoon can get the most out of him. The Red Sox aren’t built this way any longer. Bauers has essentially taken on his role and in a more extreme and productive way. With one year left, maybe they do find the right trade partner or simply bury him deep on the roster or even in the minor leagues if they must.
Triston Casas
It wasn’t so long ago when Triston Casas was a rising Red Sox prospect ready to grab the first base positon. He was a top 100 prospect on at least one of the major lists each season from 2020-23. He peaked at 16th by MLB Pipeline heading into the 2022 campaign. He posted an almost forgotten .856 OPS in 2024 to justify the placement. Over the last two years, injuries and poor performance on the field have made him an afterthought for the long-term plans.
Casas could conceivably hang around in the minor leagues or on the IL for Boston as they march forward in 2027, hoping the Bauers signing was the right call. Clearly an upgrade over the waiting and seeing approach with Casas, it would take a lot of things to go wrong for the projected Red Sox first base duo and a lot to go right for Casas for him to be a factor at all.
Jarren Duran
As if it hasn’t been clear enough for over a year, Jarren Duran’s Red Sox future is holding on by a thread. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” they are able to trade him. Some teams may be hoping the Red Sox non-tender him and he can sign as a free agent. Either way, his .627 OPS last year with a 27.1% K rate was enough of a reminder to Boston that they should have sold him in the previous winter even if the offers didn’t meet their goals.
Duran does have minor league options remaining which could get used if the Red Sox feel they can’t possibly field him on the roster. This won’t save them much money as he is arbitration eligible with Spotrac projecting $10.5 million. That’s a lot for minor league depth. Although Bauers doesn’t play the outfield regularly, he should be an occasional candidate. Moreover, it’s the presence of his left-handed power bat that makes Duran even more obsolete at the moment.
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