BREAKING: Shortstop Willy Adames and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a seven-year, $182 million contract, the largest deal in franchise history, sources tell ESPN. Adames, 29, had a career-best 32 home runs and 112 RBIs in 2024. The deal is pending a physical.
Willy Adames signs a seven-year deal with the Giants
Photo credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2024, 18:30 ESTUpdated: Dec 7, 2024, 18:17 EST
One of the best free agents is off the board and it’s not Juan Soto.
On Saturday evening, it was reported by numerous sources that shortstop Willy Adames signed a seven-year, $182 million deal with the San Francisco Giants.
Last season with the Milwaukee Brewers, the 29-year-old slashed .251/.331/.462 with a career-best 32 home runs in 688 plate appearances for a 119 wRC+ and a career-high 4.8 fWAR. For his career, Adames is slashing .248/.322/.444 with 150 home runs in 3,610 plate appearances for a 109 wRC+ and a 21.3 fWAR.
It wasn’t a great season for Adames in the field, as he had -16 Defensive Runs Saved and 0 Outs Above Average in 1406.1 innings at shortstop. However, in 2022 and 2023, Adames had 17 DRS and 26 OAA in 2481.2 innings at the position. For his career, Adames had 4 DRS and 15 OAA in 7431.1 innings at short, shockingly never winning a Gold Glove.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Russell Dorsey, Adames was seen as the second-best position player available on the market and was considered by most teams in the Juan Soto sweepstakes to be “Plan B”. Teams will pivot to infielders Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as outfielders Teoscar Hernández and Anthony Santander.
There are many around the industry that believed Willy Adames was the second-best free agent on this year’s market. Teams that had him as their Juan Soto Plan B are going to have to pivot. The market for guys like Teoscar Hernández, Anthony Santander, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso
The Blue Jays were never really linked to Adames. A big reason for that is shortstop Bo Bichette, who is still under contract for the 2025 season before he becomes a free agent at the end of the season. Assuming Bichette returns to his quality of play before the 2024 season, this deal is a good comparable.
Even if the Blue Jays miss out on Soto, they still need an outfielder. They’ve been linked to Santander, while Hernández makes a ton of sense as he spent six seasons with the Jays from 2017 until 2022 when he was traded for Erik Swanson and Adam Macko.
With all that being said, it looks as if the free agent market will speed up in the next few days, especially considering that the Winter Meetings start on Sunday. Buckle up!
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.