BOSTON -- Free-agent signee Jake Bauers is bringing his emerging left-handed bat to Boston, fresh off helping the Brewers win the World Series.
But the four-year, $58 million agreement, a source confirmed to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, with the NLCS MVP led to an immediate question: What will the ripple effect be on the rest of the roster?
Though Bauers made 86 of his 130 starts at first base last season, the first thing you might wonder is how this impacts Willson Contreras.
The reality is, not much at all. Contreras emerged into a force on and off the field in his first season with the Red Sox, and they aren’t about to subtract the production or leadership he provides. If anything, Contreras can get more rest, and make a few starts at DH, which wouldn’t be a bad thing, given that his body was beat up by the final stretch of '26.
Look for Bauers to rotate between DH, first base, left field and right field in manager Chad Tracy’s lineup.
In truth, the signing of Bauers presents a chance -- if not a likelihood -- that Jarren Duran has played his last game with the Red Sox.
Though Duran and Bauers play with different skillsets, the fact they are both left-handed hitters makes it hard to envision them coexisting on the same roster.
In addition to Duran, the Sox also have left-handed-hitting outfielders in Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu, not to mention Masataka Yoshida and Mickey Gasper as DH options.
Duran, coming off the worst full season of his career (.627 OPS, 0.4 bWAR), is one of 17 arbitration-eligible players the Red Sox must tender a contract to by Nov. 20. If he goes through the arbitration process, Duran is likely to bump up to an eight-figure salary.
Look for Boston to try to work out a trade for Duran prior to the non-tender deadline, even if it means selling low on someone who was one of the most dynamic players in the game in '24 and also a solid if inconsistent contributor in '25.
Option B would be to non-tender Duran, at which point the Sox would no longer have a financial obligation with him and he would become a free agent. Option C would be to trade Duran later in the offseason. With the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and owners set to expire on Dec. 1, that option could prove more challenging for president of baseball operations Craig Breslow than in other years.
In fact, The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported earlier this week -- even before the Bauers acquisition -- that Duran has been a hot name this winter.
“Very available,” one National League evaluator told Speier. “They’re looking to move him.”
As you’d expect, Breslow had a much different take, at least publicly.
“Yeah, I mean we've heard this type of speculation for a number of years. I've heard about the need to move outfielders because we have too many. That isn't exactly how things have played out for the last few years,” said Breslow. “Like I said, Jarren is a really talented player. He's part of our organization, and my hope at this point is he knows how I feel about him and how we as an organization feel about him.”
No matter how Breslow and the organization feel about Duran, it doesn’t mean he is a good roster fit going forward.
For Duran to be a fit, Anthony or Abreu would have to be involved in a trade, which would be a stunning turn of events.
Aside from Duran, the player likely to be most impacted by the signing of Bauers is Yoshida.
The role Yoshida fits best is as a full-time DH. By bringing in Bauers, that would be harder to pull off.
Let’s face it. The Red Sox haven’t gotten expected value for Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90-million contract four offseasons ago to come to Boston. Yoshida has a .759 OPS with just 34 homers in 390 games, and has spent significant time on the injured list the last three seasons.
Given that Yoshida has one year (and $18 million) left on his contract, he would be easier to move than in past offseasons, though the Red Sox would likely have to take on a significant portion of the remaining salary.
Perhaps the Red Sox could package Duran and Yoshida together and add a right-handed bat to better balance manager Chad Tracy’s group of position players.
The addition of Bauers was the first domino to fall for the Red Sox this offseason.
It will be intriguing to see what’s next.