Giants sign SS Willy Adames to largest deal in franchise history
Dec 7, 2024, 2:27 PM | Updated: 2:35 pm
(Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
After missing out on several prominent free agents over the years, Buster Posey is ringing in a new era of San Francisco Giants baseball with some fireworks.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Giants have reached an agreement with free agent shortstop Willy Adames on a seven-year, $182 million deal–a contract that surpasses Posey’s franchise record of $167 million.
San Francisco has long been in the market for a staple at shortstop, and now they will place the power-hitting and slick-fielding Adames at the position for years to come.
Willy Adames will receive a $22 million signing bonus in his deal with the Giants. The $182 million guarantee is the third-largest free agent contract ever for a Dominican-born player, behind only Albert Pujols and Robinson Cano. And it tops the $167 million deal of Buster Posey.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 7, 2024
About new San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames
Willy Adames, 29, just finished a career year with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024, during which the shortstop batted .251 and had 32 home runs (career-high), 112 RBI (career-high), 74 walks (career-high), and 21 stolen bases (career high) over 161 games.
Although he has never been named to an All-Star roster, the Dominican Republic product has mashed 20 or more home runs in five of his six MLB seasons (excluding the 60-game 2020 season).
With Adames at shortstop and five-time Gold Glove Award winner Matt Chapman slotted in at third base after recently signing a six-year, $151 million extension of his own, San Francisco’s infield is set up for the long haul.
Now, as the Winter Meetings get set to begin on Sunday in Dallas, Texas, Posey will look to make more splashy moves in hopes of upgrading a Giants roster that is seeking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
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In what was officially the franchise’s first press conference since its departure from Oakland, the A’s announced the signing of star pitcher Luis Severino on Friday afternoon.
Severino, who inked a record-breaking three-year, $67 million deal–the largest guarantee in the history of the A’s franchise, surpassing a six-year, $66 million extension for Eric Chavez that was signed in 2004–arrived at the Kimpton-Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento to don the green and gold for the very first time.
Following a nine-year stint in New York that featured eight seasons with the Yankees and one with the Mets, Severino is heading West and into the unknown as the A’s navigate through unchartered waters.
The seldom-spending Athletics will play in West Sacramento at Sutter Health Park, home of the Sacramento River Cats (AAA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants) during the 2025-27 seasons as they wait for a new ballpark to be complete in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Read more below:
Upcoming 2024-25 MLB Offseason Dates
- MLB free agency begins the day after the final World Series game
- Players can sign contracts with new teams five days after the final World Series game
- December 8-11th – MLB Winter Meetings in Dallas, TX
- February TBD – Pitchers & catchers report for Spring Training
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