May 3, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Giants Not Getting What They Paid for in All-Star Shortstop So Far

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Jacob Moss | Last updated May 11, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The San Francisco Giants made a number of moves this past offseason in hopes of getting back to the postseason, and the biggest was signing free agent shortstop Willy Adames.

Fresh off the best season of his career with the Milwaukee Brewers, Adames was the cream of the crop in a fairly deep free agent shortstop class. As such, the Giants shelled out a premium to land what they viewed as the future cornerstone of their team.

The seven-year, $182 million contract Adames signed was the largest ever in franchise history. It also represented a major investment San Francisco was making in the now 29-year-old, and it's an investment that has yet to show dividends.

Through his first 40 games in the bay, Adames is currently holding a .218/.299/.340 slash line to go along with just four home runs and 19 RBIs. He's also gotten off to a rocky start on defense.

As of this writing, Adames has been responsible for seven errors. For reference, he had 20 errors in all of 2024, so his prowess with the glove has regressed to start the new campaign.

ICYMI: Willy Adames has graded out as a below-average defender at shortstop this season. It is early in the year, but this will be something to follow.https://t.co/U9osnarMWj
— Around The Foghorn (@RoundTheFoghorn) May 11, 2025

Granted, this is a small sample size, but whenever a player signs the type of deal that Adames did any sort of slump is going to be magnified. The fact that he's struggling so greatly on both offense and defense right out the gate has increased that magnification ten-fold.

The Giants currently holding a 24-16 record in what's become an extremely competitive NL West certainly takes some of the edge off of Adames' lackluster start, but the longer he continues to struggle, the harder it's going to be to ignore.

Simply put, San Francisco needs their new star to provide more on both ends if they want to keep afloat in their crowded division. They made him the highest paid player in team history to provide that type of spark, so it's what's going to be required.

No serious alarms are going to be raised just 40 games in, but the longer Adames continues to struggle, the higher the pressure will continue to grow. Only time will tell if that pressure makes diamonds, or coal in the case of Adames.

This article first appeared on San Francisco Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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