Trade Proposal Sends Shortstop With 30-HR Upside to SF Giants in 4-Player Swap

The Milwaukee Brewers stunned those around baseball by trading ace Corbin Burnes on the eve of spring training. Could shortstop Willy Adames be the next Milwaukee player to pack his bags?

It’s possible now that the club acquired Joey Ortiz from the Baltimore Orioles, according to a February 4 report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. He also said the Brewers have let teams know that Adames is available via trade. However, Nightengale noted Milwaukee could wait to make a deal at the trade deadline or simply let the 28-year-old leave for free agency at season’s end.

Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter cooked up a hypothetical trade that would send Adames to the San Francisco Giants. Here are the details:

• Giants receive: shortstop Willy Adames
• Brewers receive: infielder Casey Schmitt, catcher Joey Bart and left-handed pitcher Erik Miller

Schmitt, Bart and Miller have all reached the big leagues. After 2022, Bart (no. 2) and Schmitt (no. 14) were viewed as top Giants prospects, per MLB.com. They also tabbed Miller as San Francisco’s 29th-best prospect after 2023.

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Adames Would Give Giants Something They Desperately Need

Acquiring Adames to be their starting shortstop would give the Giants something they don’t have much of right now: legitimate power.

Since 2019, the right-handed hitter has slugged 20-plus home runs four times. This stretch includes a 31-homer, 98-RBI performance to go along with a .756 OPS for the Brewers in 2022. His OPS dropped down to .717 across 638 plate appearances in 2023, but Adames’ power stayed consistent. He finished the year with 24 home runs, 29 doubles, 80 RBI and 73 runs scored.

When looking at how the Giants currently stack up in the power department, it’s not very encouraging. Wilmer Flores led the club in 2023 with 23 home runs. But according to current ZiPS projections, infielder David Villar is pegged as San Francisco’s 2024 club leader with 18 homers. The Giants are the only MLB team without a player projected to hit 20-plus homers this season by ZiPS.

Of course, acquiring third baseman Matt Chapman and/or outfielder/designated hitter Jorge Soler would change these projections. Neither of those things have happened yet, though, and Adames would give manager Bob Melvin’s squad a much-needed power boost.

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Could San Francisco Remake the Left Side of Their Infield?

FanGraphs’ Roster Resource currently has Marco Luciano penciled in as San Francisco’s starting shortstop, along with J.D. Davis standing next to him at third base. While it’s undetermined how serious the Giants are interested in Adames, their pursuit of Chapman to play the hot corner is well documented.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported on February 8 that Chapman and the Giants are still in contact with one another. He also noted that Melvin, who managed the third baseman in Oakland, would love to be reunited with him. However, it’s unknown how close things are regarding negotiations.

This offseason hasn’t gone how the Giants originally planned, but they’ve still made some investments in the roster. Instead of signing two-way star Shohei Ohtani or starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, they’ve signed outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and pitcher Jordan Hicks. They’ve also made some trades. Despite those moves, being in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers makes things hard, as standings projections have shown.

So, acquiring the likes of Chapman and Soler, along with trading for Adames would go a long way in improving the Giants’ offense as they aim to compete for the postseason. It remains to be seen how many of these moves come to fruition, though.

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