Adames’ potential finale season in Milwaukee was one of the biggest among impending free agents
We’re continuing our rankings of the Brewers’ 10 most valuable players in 2024 with shortstop Willy Adames. Adames finished the season with 3.1 bWAR and 4.8 fWAR, good for fourth and second on the team, respectively.
Adames, who came over from the Rays in the middle of 2021, enjoyed a strong partial season for Milwaukee in 2021, accumulating 3.6 bWAR across 99 games with a .285/.366/.521 (137 OPS+) line, slugging 20 homers, driving in 58 runs, and scoring 61 runs.
He enjoyed another strong season in 2022, accumulating a career-high 4.3 bWAR with a .238/.298/.458 (110 OPS+) line while breaking Milwaukee’s shortstop record with 31 homers. He had a slightly down 2023 season (.217/.310/.407 (94 OPS+) with 24 homers, 80 RBIs, and 73 runs) before bouncing back with another big season in 2024.
In a career-high 161 games, Adames hit .251/.331/.462 (118 OPS+) with 32 homers, 112 RBIs, 93 runs, and 21 steals, all of which also set new career-highs. While his usually spectacular defense took a slight step back this year, he still graded out as an average defender thanks mostly to his arm strength.
Looking at his Baseball Savant page, there’s a whole lot of red for Adames. He ranked in the 75th percentile or better in xwOBA (76th percentile at .339), xSLG (82nd percentile at .461), barrel rate (81st percentile at 12%), launch angle sweet-spot rate (84th percentile at 38.2%), bat speed (77th percentile at 73.6 mph), and walk rate (80th percentile at 10.8%).
While he still struck out at a 25.1% rate, Adames came up in the clutch countless times this season, tying Ken Griffey Jr. with 13 three-run homers this year. As mentioned above, his defense also added some value, as he ranked in the 75th percentile in arm strength with an average throw speed of 88.2 mph.
Overall, it was a successful walk year for Adames, who is now a free agent and likely to net a deal in excess of $100 million this offseason as numerous teams have expressed interest, including the Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Red Sox, Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees. Wherever he goes, I think it’s safe to say he’ll always be a fan-favorite here in Milwaukee.
We’ll conclude our rankings of the 10 most valuable Brewers this Wednesday, along with a short list of honorable mentions.
- Willy Adames (3.1 bWAR, 4.8 fWAR)
- Jackson Chourio (3.8 bWAR, 3.9 fWAR)
- Tobias Myers (2.7 bWAR, 2.2 fWAR)
- Brice Turang (4.7 bWAR, 2.5 fWAR)
- Freddy Peralta (2.6 bWAR, 2.3 fWAR)
- Christian Yelich (2.2 bWAR, 3.0 fWAR)
- Joey Ortiz (2.7 bWAR, 3.1 fWAR)
- Trevor Megill (1.3 bWAR, 1.0 fWAR)
- Sal Frelick (2.1 bWAR, 1.5 fWAR)