Fastball

New San Francisco Giants' SS Willy Adames In Historic Company Over Last Five Years

Adames signed a seven-year deal with the Giants on Saturday and he's near the top of a prestigious list.
Brady Farkas|
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames (27) gestures to the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout while on third base during the fourth inning at PNC Park on Sept 24.
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames (27) gestures to the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout while on third base during the fourth inning at PNC Park on Sept 24. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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Milwaukee BrewersSan Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants started their offseason roster rebuild in a big way on Saturday, signing shortstop Willy Adames to a seven-year deal worth $182 million.

The Giants finished fourth in the National League West in 2024, missing the playoffs despite spending big last offseason on Blake Snell, Jorge Soler, Matt Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee. Soler was traded and Snell has already left in free agency, but Chapman has been given a new deal and Lee should be healthy after undergoing shoulder surgery early last season.

Adames was one of the top free agents available and had been linked to the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets this offseason.

He put together a terrific past year in Milwaukee, hitting .251 with 32 home runs and 112 RBI. He helped carry the lineup, even though it missed Christian Yelich for a portion of the year. The Brewers surprisingly won the National League Central and were eliminated in the National League wild card series by the Mets.

A seven-year veteran of his time with the Tampa Bay Rays and Brewers, Adames is a lifetime .248 hitter. He's hit 150 career home runs exactly, with the 32 from this year serving as his career-high.

He's also near the top of an impressive list in recent baseball history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

most HR as SS since start of 2019:

Francisco Lindor: 145
Willy Adames: 140
Corey Seager: 138

Signing with the Giants will also allow Adames to continue to play shortstop. Some teams were going to need to move Adames to second or third base in order to accommodate him.

The winter meetings kick off on Monday.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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