How Will Slugger Willy Adames Impact San Francisco Giants’ Lineup?

The San Francisco Giants added some fire power to the lineup on Saturday with Willy Adams, but what's next for the lineup?

Sep 29, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames (27) in the dug out against the New York Mets in the eighth inning at American Family Field. / Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have been working hard over the past couple of offseasons to add more power to their lineup. They just missed out with Carlos Correa, who they agreed to a monster deal with before it fell through due to medical problems.

Last offseason saw more success in this area, brining in both Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman.

Soler was injured through much of the first half and was later traded at the deadline as the Giants decided to cut their losses. On the other hand, Matt Chapman was a huge success story. In his first year on this side of the bay, he swatted 27 home runs, 39 doubles, drove in 78 runs with a .790 OPS.

On Saturday, the Giants continued this trend by bringing in Willy Adames on the biggest contract in franchise history at seven years, $182 million, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The first thought with Adames is that he could possibly snap the team's 30-home run streak. No Giants player has done it in 20 years.

While that's fun to think about, the most important question becomes where the shortstop fits in the lineup. Without a doubt, he will slot in somewhere in the 2-5 range. The leadoff spot will be reserved for Jung Hoo Lee, who was signed for that role last winter.

For the most part, Adames hit out of the cleanup spot in 2024. Of the 161 games Adames played, 103 of them came from the cleanup spot, with the next highest being 36 games out of the five hole.

For the Giants last season, it was the same sort of story with Chapman, however, the splits were a little more evened out. He hit in 78 games from the four hole as opposed to 50 from the five slot. Maybe San Francisco will be more flexible with the third baseman.

Sticking Adames in the cleanup role will not only give faith to fans that they have a true power hitter, but it will do something else more important. With a 3-4-5 of Heliot Ramos, Adames and Chapman, it creates valuable protection for both Ramos and Adames, given who is hitting behind them.

At this point, there is no doubt that Adames is the shortstop of the future in San Francisco. They have been hunting for one since Brandon Crawford left, and it appears they've found their guy. It is also a bonus, given the way the roster was constructed, that he can seamlessly join the club without a ton of maneuvering.

It looks like the Giants found their guy.