DALLAS — San Francisco Giants president Buster Posey couldn’t discuss Willy Adames during his session with reporters at the Winter Meetings on Monday. Neither could Giants general manager Zack Minasian.
The contract wasn’t official yet. And there’s a little superstition involved when it comes to shortstops, franchise-shattering contracts and pending physicals, you know.
But the seven-year, $182 million deal with Adames is expected to be finalized soon. The full reveal will come Thursday in San Francisco when Adames is expected to button up a Giants jersey for the cameras. In the interim, though, there were plenty of baseball people crisscrossing the lobby at the Hilton Anatole capable of offering insight regarding the player and person who is poised to help anchor the middle of the Giants infield for the remainder of the decade.
And that insight is downright glowing.
“Don’t even want to think about it,” said Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy, asked about losing the player who set career highs in home runs (32) and stolen bases (21) while leading the Milwaukee Brewers to the NL Central title. “I’m just excited for him. The human being that he is, that’s what makes him great. His attitude that he brings every single day, how he goes about his business, just a consummate professional. He was a leader in our clubhouse. He did as much for the ballclub as anybody. Played 161 games and would have played 162. This kid is special. He deserves everything he gets.”
Special how?
“The guy can play, man,” Murphy continued. “You want the ball hit to him in a big situation. You want him at the plate in big situations. That’s the best way I can compliment (him).
“He’s proven it time and time again. That’s who he is. He loves it. He revels in it. He wants to talk to (the media). He wants to be in the spotlight. It takes a lot to get there and uphold that day in and day out. I can’t say enough about who he is. Player skills are what they are. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses. But who this guy is and how he goes about his business — how he treats people, how he treats his teammates, how he leads … losing this guy, whew.”
For Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who managed Adames in Milwaukee from 2021 to 2023, the traits that stood out had nothing to do with run production, base-running acumen or defensive ability.
“I would say my favorite thing about Willy is he’s just a unique connector of people,” Counsell said. “He connects with every corner of the clubhouse. That’s my favorite thing about him. The stats, you guys can print those out and people can tell. But there’s very few players that can connect with all corners. I’m not just talking about players. I’m talking about everybody that walks into a clubhouse and sees Willy Adames.”
That’s not too dissimilar to the role Posey played on three World Series championship teams. It’s not dissimilar from the traits that Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman exhibited so clearly last season that Posey and the ownership group aggressively sought a six-year, $151 million extension with him before he hit free agency.
Extending Matt Chapman and signing Willy Adames solidified the left side of the Giants’ infield for several years. (Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
Adames had the right combination of baseball skills at the right position to become the Giants’ best fit on the free-agent market. He had the right makeup and motor for the culture they are determined to create, too. So Posey showed the same resolve in negotiations that he did with Chapman in September, meeting the player’s price and gaining his commitment even as his market was on the verge of potentially expanding to the teams who pursued and failed to sign Juan Soto.
We can probably forecast what Posey, Minasian and company will say about Adames the person Thursday. But what about Adames the player, especially the somewhat conflicting defensive metrics that described him as an elite presence at shortstop in 2023 (16 Outs Above Average) before taking a tumble last season (1 OAA)?
Well, the Giants’ own evaluations were much brighter than anything you’ll find on FanGraphs or Baseball Savant. There weren’t other red-flag metrics, like a drop in sprint speed, that would point to a player in defensive decline. Adames played error-free in 68 of his first 70 games through mid-June last season. He made six of his 20 errors in a nine-game stretch from Aug. 8 to 16. And perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence he made 15 of his 20 errors at home — in the first season after the Brewers converted to a “grass max” surface that involves an artificial root system.
The Giants expect Adames to create ample defensive value as a shortstop for the near and medium term. Even if he becomes a bat-first second baseman at some point during his seven-year contract, which is a likely outcome, his salary would be in line with the average annual value the San Diego Padres are paying Xander Bogaerts (over 11 years) and what the Texas Rangers are paying Marcus Semien (over seven years).
The Giants will have ample time to develop or otherwise acquire another shortstop. That’s likely an action item for three or four offseasons from now. Their current task is to identify a starting second baseman to serve as Adames’ double-play partner, and Posey signaled they will stay internal with Tyler Fitzgerald getting the first crack at holding down an everyday role.
Although Posey couldn’t speak to the Adames signing, he acknowledged Fitzgerald would be the top candidate to open at second base and said he called the 27-year-old in recent days to discuss the role with him.
“Assuming everything is going forward (with Adames) — and you’re trapping me here — I think Tyler has some real upside at second base,” Posey said.
Giants manager Bob Melvin also spoke recently with Fitzgerald, who had a breakout second half in which he was named NL Rookie of the Month in July and became the first Giant since Willie Mays to hit 15 home runs in his first 59 career games with a plate appearance.
“There’s power, there’s speed, there’s a lot to love about Tyler Fitzgerald,” Melvin said. “He’ll do anything, but it’s always nice to know there’s potentially a spot you can prepare for. Confidence-wise, we saw what that did for him last year.”
The Giants are no longer pursuing infielder Ha-Seong Kim, who was a Melvin favorite during his time in San Diego but is coming off shoulder surgery and not expected to be ready for Opening Day. They might seek a power bat that could work as a designated hitter or at first base, whether or not LaMonte Wade Jr. gets traded. Melvin said he spoke recently to Wilmer Flores, who was the club’s top home run hitter in 2023 before a knee injury that required surgery in August marred his production last season.
“I’m excited that he’s excited with where he’s at physically,” Melvin said. “Vintage Wilmer would be almost like adding another guy as well. When you talk about another bat, it could be as simple as that.”
Camilo Doval is another potential trade piece but Posey volunteered the opinion that he is “bullish” on the former All-Star closer’s ability to regain his form as a late-inning presence.
“This guy’s got the potential to be a lockdown piece,” said Posey, whose final act as a player was to catch Doval in the 2021 NL Division Series. “We’ve seen it, right? He’s got nearly 100 saves in the big leagues. That doesn’t happen by accident. So I’m excited to have a chance to talk with him. Obviously, getting to catch him, I know the personality a little bit. I have belief in him being important for us.”
Buster Posey expressed confidence in Camilo Doval, who lost his role as the Giants’ closer in 2024. (Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
After several offseasons under Farhan Zaidi in which the Giants followed big free-agent whiffs with a volume-heavy Plan B, the Giants expect to take a different approach under Posey. They’re on the verge of landing one major free agent once Adames puts pen to paper. They’re exploring the top of the free-agent pitching market with Corbin Burnes. If they don’t convince the former Saint Mary’s College of California (Moraga) pitcher to sign, they probably won’t spread the money among four or five lesser free agents. They are looking to spend to upgrade the top of their roster, not backfill from the bottom up.
They sacrificed their second- and fifth-round draft picks to sign Adames. They are not averse to signing a second qualified free agent like Burnes even though it’d cost them their third- and sixth-round picks.
“Would never count it out,” Minasian said. “If we start taking options away from ourselves, we’re putting ourselves in a bad spot. So we at least want to stay open-minded to it.”
Posey repeated the Giants have a lot of faith in their group of young pitching prospects, several of whom (Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp) showed flashes while beginning to establish themselves in the big leagues last season. But they’re also looking to stabilize a rotation that threw the fewest innings among NL clubs despite having an ace (Logan Webb) who threw more than anyone. Although the Giants expect solid contributions from Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks, it’s hard to count on either pitcher to spin 150-plus innings.
Wouldn’t another load-bearing player take the pressure off those young pitchers and let them develop at their own pace?
“The obvious answer is yes,” Posey said. “We’ll just have to see what our options look like. I want to re-emphasize that there’s a lot of belief in this group, and gosh, they’re all still so young.”
The dream scenario would be the Giants acquire the one free-agent pitcher who offers a sky-high ceiling at a rock-bottom cost. Japanese ace Roki Sasaki was posted Monday, and because he is an international player under the age of 25, a team that acquires him must sign him to a minor-league contract and would hold his rights until he accrues six years of major-league service time. Sasaki is expected to sign between Jan. 15 (when teams refresh their international signing bonus pools) and Jan. 23 (when his 45-day posting period ends).
A couple of million in available pool money aside, Sasaki’s courtship becomes a pure recruitment exercise. The Giants hope to make their pitch to Sasaki as a West Coast destination with a thriving Japanese community. For now, there’s no way for club officials to gauge whether the Giants will have a seat at the Sasaki table.
But they are trying to change the narrative of a team that cannot win the bidding for the players they most intently pursue. So they were pragmatic while sitting out the Soto bidding. They let Blake Snell walk. Instead, they zeroed in on a player who matched their most pressing roster needs. Pending a physical, their winter is off to a promising start.
And Posey, one day into his first Winter Meetings as a top baseball executive, is enjoying his time in the club’s creative nucleus.
“It’s really fun for me to sit and listen to what you hope are unfiltered opinions,” Posey said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to encourage: Give us your unfiltered opinions and not necessarily what you think is the right answer. Just let it fly.”
(Top photo of Gary Sánchez and Willy Adames: Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
