Yankees News: Jake Bauers Traded to Brewers for Jace Avina, Brian Sanchez

The New York Yankees have traded outfielder Jake Bauers to the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Yankees received minor league outfielders Jace Avina and Brian Sanchez in return.

Bauers slashed .202/.279/.413 while hitting 12 home runs and 30 RBI in 84 games as a call-up in place of an injured Anthony Rizzo for the Yankees last season.

The Brewers will mark his fifth team in as many MLB seasons. Bauers has also played in Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Seattle.

Avina is the No. 29 ranked prospect in the Brewers' system, per MLB.com.

The 20-year-old was named the Brewers' Minor League Player of the Month in August after he batted .333 with eight doubles and 15 RBI in 23 games for Class-A Carolina.

Bauers, 28, has spent the past several years bouncing in and out of the minor leagues, where he spent the 2020 and 2022 seasons. When he was first acquired by the Yankees in June 2022, Bauers was assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Bauers ended up making a much bigger impact on the Yankees roster than seemed likely at the time of that acquisition. During Rizzo's battle with post-concussion syndrome, Bauers became a regular in the struggling Yankees' lineup.

That gave Bauers the chance to show off the power hitting that allowed him to slam 31 home runs in four previous partial seasons. He ended the season as one of seven Yankees with more than 10 homers.

It likely benefitted Bauers to play at Yankee Stadium, which trails only the Cincinnati Reds' Great American Ball Park as the best stadium for left-handed home runs, according to Baseball Savant.

It's no coincidence that the last time the Yankees won the World Series in 2009, they ranked first in the MLB in left-handed plate appearances against right-handed pitchers.

Those 44 home games at a stadium friendly to left-handed power hitters improved Bauers' stock and could earn him a shot at the Brewers roster in 2024.

Bauers is arbitration eligible through 2027. His estimated salary for 2024 is estimated at $1.5 million, according to Spotrac.