giants and shortstop Willie Adams According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the two sides reached an agreement on a seven-year contract worth $1.82 million. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser first reported that talks were “heating up.” Passan added that as part of the contract, CAA Sports clients will receive a $22MM signing bonus, which is the largest signing bonus in Giants history, exceeding Buster PoseySigned an eight-year, $159MM deal with the club.
Adams, 29, is the best shortstop on the market this winter, and his team has been outspoken about its desire to upgrade the position this winter. They’re now doing that by bringing in one of the league’s most consistent players on both sides of the ball to handle the position.
Because of this consistency, Adams was worth at least 3.1 fWAR and 3.0 bWAR in each of his five full seasons of 162 games in the majors. A career 109 wRC+ hitter who hit a strong .251/.331/.462 (119 wRC+) for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024, the addition of Adams as a mid-level bat should help improve the Giants’ offense , and the Giants’ offense only managed a 98 wRC+ last year.
While the San Francisco shortstop’s 112 wRC+ last year was strong, a lot of that was due to the multi-position bat Tyler Fitzgeraldhe took over the position late in the game, but he was a mediocre defender with an above-average shutout last year and a -4 rating. Adams was only worth +1 in OAA last year, but has performed well in the 2022 and ’23 metrics at +16 and +10, which should be a major upgrade for the club’s defense where he forms a dynamic tandem with the third baseman Matt Chapman On the left side of the infield. This combination of an above-average offense and defense in a premium position on the diamond was enough to make Adams the No. 5 free agent on MLBTR’s annual list of the 50 MLB Free Agents last month, and we predicted he would earn a three-year contract. Shortstop on a 6-year, $160 contract.
Adames managed to beat that projection by one year and earn $22MM, which isn’t necessarily a major hit considering the thin infield market and the number of suitors for Adames. The Yankees, Phillies, Astros, Braves, Blue Jays and Red Sox have all been linked to Adams in recent weeks, with some of the suitors seemingly attracted by his willingness to move on from shortstop to broker a trade. That makes him an especially attractive option for clubs like the Yankees and Astros, for whom the potential position change makes Adams an interesting “Plan B” if they fail to re-sign the current slugger. “choose Juan Soto and Alex Bregman Considering their apparent comfort with their current shortstop Anthony Volpe and Jeremy Pena.
Ultimately, however, Adames landed with a club willing to play him every day at shortstop. Fitzgerald slashed .280/.334/.497 (132 wRC+) in 96 games with the club last year, and now that he’s been pushed out of shortstop, it seems likely he’ll take up the mantle at second base Most of the playing time, but he also has experience at first base and the outfield and could theoretically fill multiple positions if needed. with former top prospects Marco Luciano and what young people like Heliot Ramos, Luis Matosand Grant McRae Could influence next year’s club’s outfield mix alongside current players Li Zhenghou and Mike Yastrzemskiit is not difficult to imagine that the addition of Adams will make the club more or less adjust its position.
Even if San Francisco doesn’t add to their hitting corps, questions remain about their plans for the rest of the offseason. Previous reports stated that the club plans to enter 2025 with a lower payroll than in 2024, and RosterResource stated that after signing Adames, the club’s projected payroll in 2025 will be $1.8 million. The estimate is $260,000 lower, which would be consistent with a salary reduction if the club doesn’t take additional steps. However, the Giants have also featured prominently in rumors of starting pitching this winter and have been linked to top free agent starters corbyn burns Just last week.
In addition to Adams, signing Burns would certainly push their payroll to and beyond 2024 levels, meaning they’re either going to change their cap plan or look to cut cap elsewhere, perhaps by trading Astez player such as mski or first baseman Lamont Wade Jr. It’s also worth noting that the Giants lost their second- and fifth-highest draft picks (and $100,000 in international bonus pool money) to sign Adams. That could make the club hesitant to sign an additional eligible free agent like Burns to preserve remaining draft capital, or San Francisco could be emboldened to sign another eligible free agent because of the additional draft signings. Punishments are relatively less severe. For example, signing Burns now only requires the Giants to spend the second- and fifth-highest picks in next year’s draft back Factoring in the picks they gave up to sign Adams, that means they’ll be giving up what was effectively the third- and seventh-highest picks in the draft when the offseason began.
