How Jake Bauers 'different lifetime' with Rays led to Brewers' star turn

MILWAUKEE — National League Championship Series MVP and Brewers star Jake Bauers remembers his career-starting days with the Rays.

It just takes him a minute.

“Oh man,” he said Thursday during World Series media day. “It feels like a different lifetime.”

It should, having been acquired by the Rays as a 19-year-old Class-A player, spending three-plus years working his way through their system, making a June 2018 debut and having a good-but-great rookie season before being traded after the season to Cleveland.

But it was his introduction to the majors and the start of a career that finally, at age 31 — after stints in seven organizations and several crossroads — has put him in the spotlight.

“It’s kind of a long and winding journey, but looking back at it all, I think I’m grateful,” he said. “I’m grateful for the way everything worked out. I think I learned a lot of lessons along the way, and I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today without those hardships along the way.”

Bauers was 19 when he was part of a 10-player trade in December 2014 that most famously featured the Rays sending Wil Myers to San Diego, getting Steven Souza Jr. from Washington and not figuring out how to keep the minor-leaguer to be named, Trea Turner, rather than send him on to Washington.

Bauers — who was assigned No. 70 in his first Rays big-league camp, an indication of his status — got to play a lot after his June 2018 call-up, mostly at first base and a little in the outfield, though not very well, hitting .201 with 11 homers, 48 RBIs and a .700 OPS over 96 games for the Kevin Cash-led 90-win team. (He was somewhat in the shadow of Willy Adames.)

“That was my introduction to major-league baseball, and (Cash) was the guy I had to help guide me,” Bauers said. “I look back on those times, and sometimes you wish you could have played a little better or did some things differently, but that’s just not the way it works.’’

Bauers bounced around a bit — the Rays shipped him out in the December 2018 three-way deal with Cleveland and Seattle that landed them Yandy Diaz — between organizations and the majors and minors, but eventually found a home in Milwaukee.

It actually didn’t go well in his 2024 first season, as he hit .199 with 12 homers, 43 RBIs and a .662 OPS over 116 games. Afterward he was seriously considering retirement, with plans for his wife, Lauren, to go back to work as a teacher.

Then Lauren found out she was pregnant, and Jake realized he needed to keep playing so the family would have health insurance. “That was the tentative plan for sure,” Bauers explained Thursday. “I don’t know how things would have shaken out had she not gotten pregnant because you never know.

“I think everybody in this room has thought about hanging it up once or twice, and so that’s not something that’s unique to my journey. Maybe I got a little bit closer than other guys, but this game will run you down, and it’ll build you back up just to run you down again.

“So really I’m just grateful for the way that everything played out. I think everything played out exactly how it was supposed to, and you know I think I’m sitting right where I should be.”

That took some work on his part as well.

After deciding to keep playing, Bauers signed a minor-league deal with the Brewers for 2025 and did enough in a part-time role to get signed back in 2026. He’s had his career-best season, hitting .266 with a team-high 26 homers, 86 RBIs, and an .874 OPS over 144 games.

Then he played a major role in the NLCS sweep of the Dodgers, with a hit in each game, two epic long at-bats (a 12-pitch walk in Game 2 and homering on the 11th pitch left-on-left off former Rays teammate Blake Snell in Game 3), and driving in six runs overall.

Bauers’ Brewers teammates rave about what he has done, and what he had dealt with to do so.

Centerfielder Garrett Mitchell: “Talk about perseverance. … That guy’s had a lot of challenges in his life. For someone like me who’s had challenges himself, I’m just proud of him. It’s really cool to come out on the other side of those types of things. And it started with him focusing on his family, things that were less about his own career and more about other things. His journey, it’s just really cool to see."

Pitcher Brandon Woodruff: “He’s been great. … He’s a guy that never gets too high or too low, and that’s what’s special about him. He’s very level-headed. He knows what he’s doing. He has a clear plan, and I think he’s he stuck with that this year.”

Outfielder Sal Frelick: “He came to us after being with the Yankees and after being in Triple A for a few years, and early on it kind of felt like he found a home with us. On a minor-league deal, and still sticking with it. Thoughts about retiring. I’ve gotten super close with Jake the past three years and it’s just inspiring, especially for young guys like myself, or even guys younger than me who may be struggling for a month or two. He’s a great outlet to go to because that guy struggled for maybe a few years, and look where he is now.”

Where he is now is about to play in the World Series against the team with whom he began his big-league career.

“It’s a little weird,” Bauers said. “It’s a little weird being in this position and then looking across the field and seeing that it’s going to be the Tampa Bay Rays. It just kind of makes you reminisce a little bit, and think about where it all started for sure.”

_____