Willy Adames may miss the Brewers, but the feeling isn't mutual

San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames spent the last three and a half seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers before making the move to the Bay Area over the winter. Adames had an exceptional 2024 season with the Brewers, hitting .251 with 32 home runs and 112 RBI. This was good enough to finish 10th in National League MVP voting and enter the free-agent market as the top available shortstop.

With high expectations for the 29-year-old slugger, the Giants decided to blow the market away with a seven-year deal worth $182 million to bring him out west. But now that the 2025 season is in full swing, Adames and the Giants could be having some regrets — while the Brewers are exhaling in relief.

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Willy Adames speaks on Brewers success

It was inevitable at the end of the 2024 season that Adames would no longer be a member of the Brewers moving forward. Milwaukee is notorious for putting together postseason rosters on a budget; given Adames' performance in a contract year, he had priced himself out of the organization's future plans, a fact that became abundantly clear almost as soon as the offseason began.

Of course it was a no-brainer for Adames to take the $182 million from the Giants over the next seven years, but no one imagined his start to the season would be this bad. So far in 2025, Adames is hitting just .202 with only one home run and 11 RBI. The Giants are 15-8 on the year and are only one game out of the NL West Division lead, but it's been despite their new star shortstop, not because of him. and as he approaches his 30th birthday, it's fair for doubt to creep in about how that deal will age.

Adames' former club, meanwhile, is doing what it always does: competing near the top of the NL Central with a team that no one expects to win. Even Adames himself still admires his old team's ability to develop talent, at least according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"That's the Brewers way," Adames said. "They always find a way to do it. They're always going to find a way to win games. That's how they do it every year. Nobody expects them to win and they always win."

While this perspective stems purely from respect for his previous organization, one can't help but wonder if Adames' admiration for the Brewers indicates that he is missing Milwaukee a little extra since things aren't going as expected.

The Brewers will surely remain appreciative of the efforts Adames provided during his time in Milwaukee, but are certainly relieved they are not stuck in a contract with the shortstop that could become disastrous if his performance does not improve. The Giants, on other hand, have to be hoping he turns it around soon.