{"id":75437,"date":"2024-06-02T18:21:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T22:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=75437"},"modified":"2024-06-02T18:21:54","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T22:21:54","slug":"brewers-willy-adames-return-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/02\/brewers-willy-adames-return-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible Brewers Return Potential If Shortstop Isn’t Extended"},"content":{"rendered":"

Willy Adames will get paid this off-season, raising the question of what the Brewers could gain by not extending their star shortstop’s contract. The Milwaukee Brewers are at a crossroads with star shortstop <\/span>Willy Adames,<\/span><\/a> who will enter free agency this off-season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio confirmed in a recent interview that Milwaukee had made \u201cplenty of [extension] offers\u201d to Adames this past off-season. He also confirmed that Milwaukee turned down trade offers for Adames because you \u201ccan\u2019t put a price on his leadership.\u201d This is true; the 28-year-old shortstop has been the heartbeat of the Brewers since they acquired him in 2021. He has taken several rookies under his wing and has been a staple in the Milwaukee lineup, playing nearly daily. Adames, \u201ca key\u201d to Brewers culture, is among the few starting shortstops excelling in defense and offense.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adames is tied for the team lead in homers with nine while batting .259\/.336\/.452 with 42 RBI. Since arriving in Milwaukee, he’s led all shortstops in home runs. He’s nearing a .800 OPS, which is very valuable for a shortstop who’s also an elite defender. His six outs above average at shortstop puts Adames in the top 3% in the league.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earning $12.25 million in his final arbitration year, Adames is poised for a significant raise in free agency. Something the Brewers are well aware of. Attanasio\u2019s comments suggested he is not confident in the Brewers ability to keep Adames in Milwaukee long-term. So, what do you do? Do you risk losing the star shortstop to free agency, or do you trade him for a good return?<\/span><\/p>\n

Evaluating the Brewer’s Potential Returns If Willy Adames Isn’t Extended<\/h3>\n

Milwaukee sent ace <\/span>Corbin Burnes<\/span><\/a> to Baltimore in February in exchange for Orioles prospects D.L. Hall and Joey Ortiz<\/span>. Burnes will enter free agency following the 2024 campaign and was outspoken about his plans to test the market. So, dealing the former Cy Young winner<\/a> for their now-everyday third baseman and the 25-year-old left-hander made sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since Milwaukee has a 6.5-game lead over the NL Central, dealing Adames while in contention seems unlikely. Though the Brewers famously dealt <\/span>Josh Hader<\/span><\/a> to the Padres at the trade deadline while in contention back in 2022. The Hader trade ultimately led to the three-team deal that sent catcher <\/span>William Contreras<\/span><\/a> to Milwaukee in 2023. Given their past success in trading prospects for major league talent, Milwaukee would likely consider trading Adames for the right price.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three teams stand out among those rumored to be in the mix for shortstops: San Francisco, Tampa Bay, and Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n

San Francisco Giants<\/h3>\n

San Francisco has been in the trade market for shortstops since December, with Adames being specifically named. <\/span>Marco Luciano<\/span><\/a> was widely expected to break camp as the starting shortstop for San Francisco, but that didn’t happen. Luciano, currently on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain, made his season debut on May 14th. Giants manager <\/span>Bob Melvin<\/span><\/a> has split the shortstop duties with <\/span>Casey Schmitt<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Brett Wisely<\/span><\/a>. Trading for Adames wouldn’t necessarily affect Luciano’s playing time, as he could shift to third base.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Trade Proposal:<\/strong> Giants receive SS Willy Adames, Brewers receive INF Casey Schmitt, RHP Mason Black<\/span><\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays<\/h4>\n

With <\/span>Wander Franco<\/span><\/a> on administrative leave until July<\/a>, the shortstop position remains uncertain for the Rays.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tampa Bay acquired <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Caballero<\/span><\/a> from Seattle, and the defensive-minded infielder has served as the Rays primary shortstop this season. While <\/span>Junior Caminero<\/span><\/a> will ultimately take over the position, the Rays aren’t rushing the 20-year-old who just landed on the Triple-A injured list<\/a>. Tampa Bay signed <\/span>Amed Rosario<\/span><\/a> to a one-year deal<\/a> in February but has primarily used him as an outfielder. Adames spent four years with the Rays before being traded to the Brewers in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trade Proposal: Rays receive SS Willy Adames, Brewers receive IF\/OF Greg Jones, RHP Yoniel Curet, and IF Osleivis Basabe<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Boston Red Sox<\/h4>\n

With <\/span>Trevor Story<\/span><\/a> sidelined for the season and <\/span>Vaughn Grissom<\/span><\/a> on the injured list, Boston needs another middle infielder.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Red Sox have been leaning on a combination of <\/span>David Hamilton<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Pablo Reyes,<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Enmanuel Valdez<\/span><\/a> up the middle. But Boston recently threw rookie outfielder <\/span>Ceddanne Rafaela<\/span><\/a> into the mix at shortstop, too. Adames would bring a veteran presence and a sense of stability with his elite defense to the Red Sox infield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trade Proposal:<\/strong> Red Sox receive SS Willy Adames, Brewers receive INF Nick York and RHP Bryan Mata<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Willy Adames will get paid this off-season, raising the question of what the Brewers could gain by not extending their star shortstop’s contract. The Milwaukee Brewers are at a crossroads with star shortstop Willy Adames, who will enter free agency this off-season.\u00a0 Brewers owner Mark Attanasio confirmed in a recent interview that Milwaukee had made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4975,"featured_media":75463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1071],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brewers","category-mlb"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4975"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}