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The Rays front office has consistently praised the first baseman at the Winter Meetings

Rays first baseman Jake Bauers began his major league career with a surge. He became a key component of the Rays everyday lineup and provided stellar defense at first base. He immediately rewarded the Rays for promoting him at the ripe age of 22 years old by hitting .239/.350/.477 with 9 HR, resulting in a 128 wRC+ over his first 234 plate appearances as a big leaguer.

Tha is until August, when he hit a brick wall, and then fell off a cliff, and then careened into a canyon. The second half of the season just was not good.