My Two Cents: Jason Adam Happy in San Diego, But 'Those Are My Best Friends' on Rays

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — It's just the nature of the business. It's very rare anymore that a baseball player gets drafted, moves up through a system and spends his entire career with that one team.

Moving around from team to team is inevitable. But it doesn't make it easy.

Take the case of Jason Adam, for instance, one of the absolute good guys in baseball. The right-handed relief pitcher spent most of three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays from 2022 to 2024. He hated to go, because he loved his time in Tampa Bay and developed a lot of ''for life'' relationships with players and coaches alike. He also pitched great, and was a big part of a lot of games, both during the year and in the postseason.

But Adam was also fortunate that his trade destination last July was to the San Diego Padres. He joined a very good team that desperately needed his specific skill set, a guy who can — calmly and coolly — get outs late in games. They also have a great locker room with goals that aligned well with his time in Tampa Bay.

They are built for October.

Adam had a chance to get reunited with his former teammates this weekend with the Rays visiting San Diego for a three-game set. Adam got lots of hellos in during batting practice, and it was fun to see so many friends.

He misses his Tampa Bay guys, but is also thrilled to be a part of the San Diego Padres family. He loves his teammates, loves his coaches, loves his new hometown, and especially loves their massive, passionate fan base.

"It's a very dedicated group, very passionate group. And we've got awesome fans, so it's really fun to play here,'' Adam told me during a nice chat in the Padres locker room before Friday's game, a 1-0 victory by the Rays. "And this team, we're on a mission to play well in October and everybody comes to work every day. There isn't anyone here that's just collecting a paycheck. We want to win every day, and we just go out and play that way.

"It's very similar to what we had (with the Rays). It's an easy transition. I had some of my best friends in Tampa, great guys, great coaching staff, and then I come here and it's the same exact thing. I couldn't have asked for a better situation to move into here in San Diego. You never know what you're moving into, but I couldn't be more pleased and more thankful to be here with these guys and this coaching staff.''

Adam, who turns 34 is August, is married with four kids and he's moved around plenty since starting his pro career in 2010. He was drafted by his hometown Kansas City Royals in the fifth round of the 2010 MLB Draft and spent four years in their minor-league system before being traded to the Minnesota Twins. He missed all of 2015 and 2016 with arm injuries and was actually in San Diego's farm system before being released. He resigned with the Royals.

He made his MLB debut in 2018 with the Royals, but then spent parts of 2019 with the Toronto Blue Jays and then made a few appearances in 2020 with the Chicago Cubs. He made the Cubs' Opening Day roster in 2021, which was a first more than a decade after being drafted. But he bounced up and down all year, too, and signed with the Rays for the 2022 season.

And that's where his career finally took off.

Since the start of 2022, he's been one of the best relievers in the game. In 2022, he was second in all of baseball in opponents batting average (.147) and inherited runners scoring (just 3 of 31.)

He was great in 2023 too, and even made the USA team in the World Baseball Classic. He pitched well for the Rays in 2024, too, but he was traded at the deadling for three high-profile San Diego prospects. And he didn't miss a beat in San Diego, holding opponents scoreless in 24 of 27 appearances, with a 3-0 record and a 1.06 ERA

From 2022-24, his 197 regular season appearances were 13th most in the major leagues. Among the 15 relievers who made 195-plus regular season appearances during those three years, he ranked first in opponents' average (.162) and whiffrate (37.5%), was second in WHIP (0.87), opponents' OPS (.531), ERA (2.12), base runners per 9 innings (8.80) and inherited runners scored percentage (20.7%).

He's been filthy in 2025, too. In 12 games, he's pitched 13 innings and has allowed just one run and six hits. He has an 0.69 ERA and an 0.85 WHIP.

With Adam and closer Robert Suarez, Padres games are basically over after seven innings. The 17-9 Padres get a ton out of Suarez, too. He's pitched 11 innings and still hasn't allowed a run, and only three hits. He's got 10 saves, tops in the majors

"It's been an awesome start to the season,'' Adam said. "Obviously we've got a lot of season left and we need to keep taking care of business, but to get off to a good start, it's such a fun group to be a part of in the bullpen and it's a fun team overall to be a part of. I'm thrilled how we started this first month or the season, and now we've just got to keep doing it for the next six.''

Adam has adapted to San Diego well, and they are right in the thick of things in the National League West, the best division in baseball by far. They lead the division by a half-game over the San Francisco Giants, and they are a game ahead of the world-champion Los Angeles Dodgers and three ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Adam loves every minute of it, just like he did making postseason runs in Tampa. San Diego has been great to him — and visa versa.

"Last year after the season, we stayed around here for a week or two and hung out. We to the park, went to the beach and stayed around just because it's so nice here,'' Adam said. "We spent the winter at home (in Missouri), but it's also great to be here.

"We are very fortunate after being with the Rays to then come here. This is a great city, too, and the whole family, we're just loving it here.''