Brewers could luck into keeping Willy Adames under one condition

The Milwaukee Brewers lost Craig Counsell to the Chicago Cubs, lost Brandon Woodruff for the entire season due to injury, traded Corbin Burnes, and were without Devin Williams for the entire first half. Despite all of that, they enter Thursday's action with a 76-56 record, 9.0 games ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central. As of this writing, they hold the largest division lead in the majors.

There are many reasons for them defying the odds and playing as well as they have. Pat Murphy has stepped up in a big way, filling Counsell's shoes admirably. William Contreras and Christian Yelich were All-Stars. Their bullpen has been elite all year even without Williams for most of it. What has really stuck out, though, is the play of Willy Adames who is having arguably his best season at the perfect time.

Not only is Adames helping the Brewers immensely with his play on the field, but he's helping himself by having an outstanding season in a contract year. Adames is going to hit free agency at the end of the 2024 campaign and is sure to cash in.

While Adames getting paid handsomely sounds like bad news in regards to the small market Brewers keeping him beyond 2024, ESPN's Jeff Passan (subscription required) laid out one possible way that could get Milwaukee to luck into keeping him.

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A Bo Bichette trade could open the door to the Brewers keeping Willy Adames

As things stand right now, Adames is the best free agent shortstop by far. He has tons of power, is a strong defender, can steal some bases, and will be under 30 when he hits free agency. Teams in need of a shortstop with money to spend will presumably enter a bidding war for the best option out there.

Things would change a bit for Adames, though, if the trade market becomes robust. Let's say the Toronto Blue Jays choose to trade Bo Bichette, a player under club control through the 2025 campaign. Adames might lose some of his leverage according to Passan.

"Certainly if Toronto tries to trade Bo Bichette, some of Adames' leverage is lost. As it stands, though, the success Adames found in Milwaukee should be enough to sustain him into nine figures."

This makes sense. Bichette is a two-time All-Star who will be cheaper than Adames in 2025, and can presumably be had for relatively cheap considering the fact that he'd be a rental and would be coming off of a down year. If teams had the option to either buy incredibly high on Adames or incredibly low on the cheaper Bichette, they'd presumably choose the latter.

If attention turns to Bichette, perhaps that can be enough for the Brewers to swoop in and get Adames back on a number they're comfortable with. That scenario probably isn't likely whether Bichette is traded or not considering the lack of spending that the Brewers do, but it can't be counted out. Adames is such a vital piece of the puzzle in Milwaukee, and it'd be a crushing blow for the Brewers to lose him, even if that is the expectation.