The Milwaukee Brewers made their first major decision of the offseason on Monday. The deadline to tender qualifying offers came and went and Milwaukee opted to make an offer to first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers.

Now, Bauers has a decision to make himself. Will he take the one-year deal worth more than $23 million? Or, will he decline it and go for a multi-year deal in free agency elsewhere? ESPN's Kiley McDaniel weighed in with an intriguing take and dropped a contract projection that may not be good for Milwaukee.

"Projected contract/QO: three years, $52.5 million (17.5 AAV), received QO," McDaniel wrote. "Proving he can do it again and taking a one-year deal for just over $23 million feels fair, but Bauers might prefer a multi-year deal to get the biggest guarantee from this perfectly timed breakout into a weak free agent hitter class. ... The Brewers offered Bauers the QO and I lean toward him declining and hitting the open market, but it's totally defensible for him to take the QO and look for a big multi-year deal next winter."

What To Do With Jake Bauers?

The Brewers have done their job so far. They have shown that they are willing to take a risk and tendered Bauers the qualifying offer after breaking out in 2026. Bauers is a seven-year big league veteran and no other season in his career has come close to what he did in 2026. Milwaukee already has taken a gamble financially based on one electric season.

But if McDaniel's projection is accurate, it could end up being bad news for Milwaukee in the long run. If a club is willing to go to a place to give Bauers a deal worth over $50 million across three seasons, then there's a real chance he ends up turning down the qualifying offer and maybe even leaving.

Bauers was a key cog in the middle of the Brewers' order in 2026 and was a leader in the clubhouse. Milwaukee doesn't win the 2026 World Series without having Bauers on the team. But will he be with the organization in 2027? That's still completely up in the air. If Bauers does end up leaving, the Brewers will get a draft pick in return, which will make the qualifying offer decision look genius. But, in that scenario, the Brewers would lose a key bat in the middle of the lineup.

Milwaukee has done a good job with Bauers so far this offseason. The decision to tender the qualifying offer gave Bauers an offer that may be too tempting to turn down. Or, if he does, the Brewers won't lose him for nothing. In a perfect world, Bauers will be back. But if he does end up getting the type of contract that McDaniel projected, it may not be in the cards.