PHOENIX: Jake Bauers is prepared for a new chance.
Playing professional baseball for seven different teams in eleven seasons has truly become second nature for the 28-year-old. This spring, he’ll be looking to lock down a position on the Milwaukee Brewers opening-day roster as a left-handed bat with some defensive versatility.
The quiet Newport Beach, California, native added, “I think I learned that early on, and from there it’s just been a part of the journey, really.”
Let’s follow Bauers’ journey from his 2013 seventh-round draft selection following his high school graduation:
After spending slightly more than 18 months with the San Diego Padres, the team that selected him, he was dealt for the first time in a huge three-team, ten-player deal that was headlined by Trea Turner.
“I recall my time with the Padres,” Pat Murphy, the manager, remarked. “This was a guy that was going to play in the big leagues, and he was just out of high school.”
After playing in 96 games during his initial trip to the major leagues in 2018, Bauers spent the following four seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays before moving on once more. In another three-team deal, he headed to Cleveland this time, where he played 160 games over the course of two seasons (not including the pandemic year).
In June 2021, he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners, where he finished the season with 72 games played.
November 2021 was Bauers’s first journey into free agency. After signing a contract with the Cincinnati Reds, he was transferred to the New York Yankees in exchange for cash less than six months later.
