The Milwaukee Brewers are heading into the 2025 MLB season with the same plan at first base that they had last year. Rhys Hoskins picked up his $18 million player option in a move that Milwaukee may not have expected him to make when they included that option in his deal when they signed him as a free agent. He hit .214/.303/.419 with 26 home runs and 82 RBI in his first season with the Brewers.
Recently, Milwaukee re-signed Jake Bauers after non-tendering him earlier in the offseason. A left-handed hitter, he played first base, right field, and left field for the Brewers last year while hitting .199/.301/.361 with 12 home runs, 43 RBI, and 13 stolen bases. Bauers’ deal is a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. He is currently listed as the second first baseman on the team’s depth chart.
Milwaukee also has Tyler Black, who made his Major League debut last season, ready to compete for a spot on the opening day roster. He hit just .204/.316/.245 in 18 Big League games last year, but hit .254/.375/.429 with 14 home runs and 67 RBI down in Triple-A Nashville.
The Milwaukee Brewers Have Not Had a Long-Term First Baseman Since Prince Fielder
From 2006-2011, first base belonged to Prince Fielder in Milwaukee. A franchise legend, Fielder spent seven of his 12 Major League seasons with the Brewers, hitting .282/.390/.540 with 230 home runs and 656 RBI. In 2007, he became the youngest player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs in a season, which also stands as Milwaukee’s single-season record.
After he departed for the Detroit Tigers following the 2011 season, though, the Brewers have had a revolving door at first base, unable to find anyone to man the position on a consistent basis for more than one or two years.
From 2012-2022, Milwaukee had 11 different first baseman start on Opening Day. It was not until Rowdy Tellez started in 2022 and 2023 that the same player started at the position in back-to-back years for the Brewers. Hoskins looks like he will be starting there again in 2025 after doing so in 2024, but it is not certain that he is the long-term answer at first base for Milwaukee either.
Former Milwaukee Brewers First Baseman Garrett Cooper Signed with the Atlanta Braves
One of the players that the Brewers once developed, Garrett Cooper, looked like he might have had the potential to finally be the team’s long-term answer at first base. In 2015, playing in Milwaukee’s minor league system, he hit .310/.376/.452 with eight home runs and 59 RBI. The following year, he hit .292/.344/.423 with nine home runs and 69 RBI between Double-A and Triple-A.
In 2017, through 75 games played at Triple-A, Cooper was hitting .366/.428/.652 with 17 home runs and 82 RBI.
And then Milwaukee traded him to the New York Yankees for Tyler Webb.
Since being traded Cooper has played in the Majors for the Yankees, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox. He has career averages of .265/.333/.427 with 57 career home runs and 233 RBI.
Earlier today, it was reported that he had signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves:
Free-agent first baseman Garrett Cooper in agreement with the Atlanta Braves on a minor-league contract, sources say. The deal includes an invite to spring training.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) January 12, 2025
Cooper hit only .206/.267/.299 with a home run and 11 RBI in 116 games for the Cubs and Red Sox last season.
More Milwaukee Brewers News from Wisconsin Sports Heroics
- Former Brewers 1x All-Star Signs in the AL Central
- Brewers Fans React to Colin Rea Signing with NL Central Nemesis
- Former Brewers Pitcher Signs 1 Year Deal to Join Craig Counsell, Cubs
- Brewers Catcher William Contreras Faces Slim Odds of Winning Arbitration Case
- Brewers’ Nick Mears Agrees to 1-Year Deal to Stay in Milwaukee
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