SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Giants were comfortable signing Willy Adames to the richest contract in franchise history because they felt he would not only stabilize a premium defensive position but also add an impact bat to their lineup.
Adames’ right-handed pop was as advertised during the Giants’ first full-squad workout at Scottsdale Stadium on Monday, when he went deep on his second swing of live batting practice. The 29-year-old launched a misplaced slider from right-hander Sean Hjelle out to the visiting bullpen in left field, drawing cheers from the couple dozen Giants fans who looked on from the stands.
“Obviously, every time you touch the barrel this early, it’s a great feeling,” Adames said.
“Unfortunately, I’ve gotten that point of view before from him,” Hjelle said. “But he’s a top player in the league. He sees a crappy pitch from me, that’s what he’s supposed to do. … It’ll be fun once the regular season actually starts. I don’t have to worry about him doing that off me anymore, so that will be good.”
The Giants are certainly happy to have Adames on their side after inking him to a seven-year, $182 million deal in December. The star shortstop is already looking at home with his new organization, as he spent the final month of the offseason working out in Arizona to accelerate his onboarding process with the Giants.
“I feel like, for me, I’ve done that already a few times,” Adames said. “I’ve been traded twice. It makes it easier to try to get along with everybody and just try to get comfortable. That’s why I’ve been hanging out the last month here because I wanted to get that going early and create that bond with the guys before Spring Training started. Being around here for the last month has been key. It’s been great just to create that bond with the guys. I think [with] that chemistry that we’re building here, we can do something special.”
It didn’t take long for Adames to buy into the vision laid out by new president of baseball operations Buster Posey, who addressed the team alongside manager Bob Melvin on Monday morning.
Melvin said both of them expressed a desire to build an identity around being a “fundamentally sound baseball team that shows up every day and plays a good, clean game.” They ended the meeting by playing a highlights video featuring Giants legends from Willie Mays to Will Clark to Logan Webb to help inspire and motivate the players in the room.
“I had to actually cross off a few things that I was going to say because [Posey] touched on them,” Melvin said. “We’re all kind of thinking the same things. It’s about the team here. Buster was kind of the ultimate team player for a star. The message was, ‘If we’re going to go where we want to go, we have to do it together.’”
“We’re counting on the young guys to step up and be themselves,” Adames said. “I feel like we have amazing talent here. We have to go out there and compete and put up numbers and win games. I think we’re in a really good spot. Obviously, the division is tough. We’re going to have to go out there and beat everybody just playing the right baseball. I think that’s the culture we’re trying to create here in Spring Training, just to play baseball the right way and take advantage of every opportunity that we can and see what happens after that.”
The Giants will be relying on Adames and third baseman Matt Chapman, who signed a six-year, $151 million extension in September, to continue to set the tone for the club moving forward. Adames said he’s already looking forward to playing alongside Chapman, a five-time Gold Glove winner who should help make life easier for him at shortstop.
“I’ve never had that before,” Adames said. “He already told me, ‘You don’t have to worry about the backhand.’ I’m like, ‘Man, I just have to work on my glove side.’ I don’t even have to worry about my backhand. It just gives you more confidence to be out there.”
Adames delivered a career-high 32 home runs and 112 RBIs over 161 games for the Brewers in 2024, though he took a step back defensively, with his outs above average slipping from +16 in 2023 to +1 last year. Adames said he briefly lost his confidence after committing 11 of his career-high 20 errors in July and August, but he worked out of the rut and is eager to show that he can still be a strong defender at short.
“When you get into that hole, if you don’t have somebody to pull you out of that, it’s tough to get out of that,” Adames said. “But I feel like I finished the season really well. I think I have my confidence back and just going to go out there and be the same guy.”