New York Yankees Investment in Veteran Outfielder Paying Huge Dividends

The New York Yankees know that life without outfielder Aaron Judge is tough. Fortunately, players like Jake Bauers are fitting in nicely.

The journeyman outfielder — once a seventh-round pick by the San Diego Padres in 2013 right out of high school — has had trouble sticking full-time with a franchise. The closest he’s gotten was with Cleveland in 2019, where he played 117 games, and then in 2021, when he played a combined 115 games for Cleveland and Seattle.

With the Yankees, he’s emerged as a platoon outfielder who has provided the Yankees with valuable depth, especially now that Judge is on the shelf.

His value may be more defensive than offensive. On Saturday against Boston, Bauers made an incredible catch to end an inning. His catch at the wall prevented the Red Sox from scoring a run from third and breaking a scoreless tie.

Jumpin' Jake 🙌 pic.twitter.com/mrClAhjsQ5
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 11, 2023

“He's been a real shot in the arm for us, especially with some of the injuries that we’ve taken the first couple of months,” Boone said to Fox Sports during an in-game interview. “He’s done a great job for us offensively — power, patience, a couple of really good plays and that was a really good one the end the inning.”

Bauers has a lifetime average of .214. He’s only batting .230 for the Yankees in 32 games. But he’s already delivered five home runs, and in the context of his career he’s on a pace to pass his career high of 12 home runs with Cleveland in 2019.

Why is the average and the power up? The Yankees apparently saw something in him.

He was a low-risk investment. The Yankees gave up cash considerations to acquire him from Cincinnati last June, where he was playing in Triple-A. The Yankees’ coaching staff in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre worked with him to adjust his swing, but he only ended up batting .226 with the RailRiders.

Things changed this spring. Bauers didn’t make the Yankees’ roster, but at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre his bat caught fire, as he hit .304/.488/.797 with nine home runs, 20 RBIs, and five stolen bases. That earned him a call-up on April 29.

He’s bounced around a lot. The Padres dealt him to Tampa Bay in 2014, a three-team deal most notable in that Washington got Phillies star Trea Turner as a player to be named later.

He homered in his MLB debut with Tampa Bay in 2018, but the Rays traded him in another three-team deal that landed them Yandy Díaz.

Bauers hit for the cycle for Cleveland in 2019, but he never stuck. He didn’t appear in a game for Cleveland in 2020, and after a tepid start in 2021 the Guardians designated him for assignment.

Seattle traded for him in 2021 and he hit a 460-foot home run for the Mariners. But they released him after the season. He signed with the Cincinnati Reds for 2022 but never played a game for the Reds.

Now, 10 years after he was drafted, he’s playing a critical role for the Yankees, one that is helping them ride out a wave of injuries as the season bleeds toward the end of June.