Willy

Adames

Adames tagged Athletics’ left-hander Jeffrey Springs for a two-run blast in the third inning that extended the Giants’ early advantage to 3-0. That would be his only hit in three at-bats on the afternoon. He’s having a tremendous spring in his first camp with the Giants, hitting .361 (13-for-36) with three long balls, nine RBI and a pair of stolen bases.

It’s the second homer of the spring for Adames in his first Cactus League campaign for the Giants. The 29-year-old has looked the part in Arizona with a .364/.432/.576 slash.

Adames smacked what looked to be an RBI double off of Nick Pivetta in the opening inning, but Heliot Ramos was cut down at the plate attempting to score. The hard-hitting shortstop then worked a walk off of Matt Waldron to begin the fourth inning and ultimately came around to score on a run-scoring knock by Matt Chapman. On the spring, the Giants’ new addition is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with a homer, five RBI and a stolen base.

The deal is now official after Adames passed his physical. Without being too hyperbolic, the move to San Francisco is pretty much the worst-case scenario landing spot for fantasy purposes since Oracle Park ranks almost dead-last (28th) in home runs for right-handed batters, according to Statcast park factors over the last three seasons. That doesn’t mean Adames won’t remain a strong fantasy contributor with the Giants. We’re confident projecting the 29-year-old stalwart as a top 10 shortstop from a fantasy perspective heading into 2025 since we’re still comfortable locking in a realistic 25-homer floor. However, it’s difficult to forecast a repeat of last year’s career-high 32 round-trippers with the Brewers since Oracle Park puts a realistic ceiling on his over-the-fence pop upside.

Passan notes that Adames will get a $22 million signing bonus as part of the deal, and it’s the largest contract the Giants have ever signed. Adames was sensational in 2024 with 32 homers and 114 RBI while helping Milwaukee win the NL Central. and he’s been productive throughout his career. He’ll hit in the middle of the San Francisco order, and should be a solid fantasy option for 2025 and beyond. The Brewers will receive a compensation pick after the first round with Adames leaving the club and having received the qualifying offer.

In case you were wondering what was next for the Yankees in case they fail to bring back generational superstar Juan Soto. Adames would help fill an obvious hole for New York at second base, with Gleyber Torres likely headed elsewhere in free agency. His arrival would allow the Yankees to shift former top prospect Anthony Volpe over to the keystone and install Adames as their full-time shortstop. The 29-year-old is unlikely to replicate last year’s career-high 32 round-trippers, but Yankee Stadium would be a phenomenal landing spot for his long-term fantasy outlook. Regardless of where he winds up, Adames will be a top 10 shortstop in fantasy drafts next spring.

The Phillies only have one opening in their starting rotation with Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, and Cristopher Sanchez returning in 2025, but it seems that they are intent on taking a big swing to fill it. Bohm is 28 years old and coming off three straight solid seasons but seems to be capped as a .280 hitter with 15-20 home run power, so it’s unclear if that profile would excite the White Sox. Especially with the Orioles and Red Sox are allegedly open to trading some of the top 15 prospects in all of baseball. It’s still early days, but the Phillies seem intent on shaking up their lineup, and Nightingale reports that “if the Phillies trade Bohm, they are expected to make a strong play for Alex Bregman, whose talent and personality would fit in perfectly with the team, or perhaps sign Willy Adames and move him over to third base.”

Although Adames has played shortstop for the entirety of his career, the 29-year-old is willing to move to third base, and, according to Nightengale, the Red Sox “have internally discussed moving Rafael Devers off third base.” Adding Adames to the middle of the lineup and moving Devers to first base would certainly improve the team’s offense and defense; although, it does leave some question about where Triston Casas fits in the team’s long-term plans. However, it seems like a move could be coming soon. “They have been so outspoken about their intentions,” one GM said, “there’s no way you talk that way unless you’re absolutely sure you’re signing one of those guys. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them announce they’ve got one of those guys pretty soon. They’re pretty confident.”

It’s now official. Nick Martinez was the lone recipient to accept a qualifying offer this offseason cycle, becoming just the 14th to do so since the system was implemented back in 2012. That leaves Juan Soto, Willy Adames, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Teoscar Hernández, Christian Walker, Sean Manaea, Anthony Santander, Luis Severino and Pivetta officially heading to free agency. Their respective teams will receive draft pick compensation if they wind up signing elsewhere. No real surprises here besides Pivetta, who ESPN’s Jeff Passan indicated last week has at least a “three-year deal” waiting for him on the open market.

Adames was never likely to accept the one-year, $21.05 million offer, but now it’s official. The 29-year-old was sensational in 2024 and has already generated significant interest from around the league. It seems very unlikely that Adames will be a member of the Brew Crew in 2025.