Red Sox Will Welcome Jake Bauers' Power With Open Arms, but His Presence Creates Many Roster Headaches

[Alex Mayes]

In a stunning pre-lockout move, the Boston Red Sox have signed free agent first baseman Jake Bauers to a four-year, $58 million contract. While Craig Breslow downplayed the need to add power to be a World Series contender just last week, he was obviously paying close attention to what the Brewers’ slugger was doing to help power that team to their first championship. While the addition of Bauers instantly makes the Red Sox’s lineup more potent, it creates a handful of roster questions that must be addressed before December 1.

First, there is the obvious corresponding move that has to be made just to add Bauers to the 40-man roster. While there are a number of DFA candidates currently on that list, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Breslow try to free up some space by finally moving either Jarren Duran or Masataka Yoshida. Sure, he can DFA Raymond Burgos, but that'd be a temporary solution to what is now a serious logjam. Arguably, the biggest piece of news to come out of the GM Meetings in Las Vegas was that many rival executives and scouts were very open about the fact that the Red Sox were willing to move on from Duran. While a return for the outfielder likely won’t be earth-shattering, he has some value on the open market and can help replenish a diminished farm system at a bare minimum.

The same can be said for Yoshida, who is on the final year of his contract and will be looking at decreased playing time with Bauers in the fold. Yoshida has been a fine hitter when healthy, but he doesn’t have an offensive profile that makes sense as a DH in Boston, and he’s outranked on the outfield depth chart by guys who are lightyears better on defense. Both Duran and Yoshida were likely to split time at DH in 2027 without any additions, but now they are both going to be on the outside looking in for playing time. While it will be a hard pill for Breslow to swallow, neither should be on the roster when November turns to December.

The biggest question, though, is where Bauers will play. We’ll have more on the first base depth chart in the coming days, but The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey is hearing from sources that he’s expected to split time at first and designated hitter. That makes sense, but Bauers has the type of offensive approach that the Red Sox should be looking for in a mostly full-time DH. After the Sox were eliminated from the postseason, I wrote about how the DH by committee method that the team has employed under Breslow wasn’t going to be beneficial any longer, and it seems that Breslow may be coming around to that idea as well. Bauers also has experience in the outfield but with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu patrolling the grass, don’t expect to see the big man out there for more than a spot start or two.

By signing Bauers, the Red Sox have made the first big splash of the offseason and could be primed to move some household names to help accommodate his presence in the lineup. This is clearly just step one in a long offseason plan, but it's hard not to like the way this team is moving.

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