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San Francisco Giants Campaign Hinges on Success of Newest Slugger

The San Francisco Giants' season may ride on the success of their newest free-agent acquisition this offseason?

Nick Ziegler

Mar 15, 2025; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) gets ready for a game against the Seattle Mariners at Scottsdale Stadium.
Mar 15, 2025; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) gets ready for a game against the Seattle Mariners at Scottsdale Stadium. / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
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As spring training wraps up for the San Francisco Giants, the franchise is hopeful of snapping a three-year stretch of finishing under .500.

The Giants have been stuck in a bit of mediocrity for the past several years, but with new leadership, they are hoping that the culture will be changing soon for the franchise. 

Hiring Buster Posey to take over as the president of baseball operations should bring some legitimacy to the organization, considering how well-respected he is in the game. 

For the past number of years, the team has had a hard time convincing the top free agents in the game to come to San Francisco to play. 

The Giants have missed out on players like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani recently, resulting in them being without a star and a face of the franchise. 

One of the main reasons for bringing in Posey was to help with that, and he will have to prove himself. 

This winter, the franchise had the desire to cut payroll a bit, which they were successful with. However, they also spent big money to land one of the best hitters on the market with the hope he could help turn things around. 

Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (paid subscription required) recently spoke about the Giants’ potential success this season hinging on the performance of their newly signed shortstop, Willy Adames. 

“To this point in his career, Adames has been a very good player, the kind you can comfortably pencil in for three wins above replacement. The Giants need him to be more, though, and that's bound to be the question that defines this team," he wrote.

Due to the batting order of San Francisco being fairly poor in recent years, spending big and signing Adames made a lot of sense for the Giants. 

The talented slugger not only filled a positional need, but he has the potential to hit 30 home runs, which is something that no member of San Francisco has been able to do in over 20 years. 

Adames is certainly a very good player, but he has yet to be an All-Star at this stage of his career despite some impressive campaigns with the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Now, the Giants will be hoping that they are getting the young slugger in his prime years and that he will continue to get better. 

Since he was the most significant splash this offseason, there is a lot of pressure on him to be the new top guy for the franchise. 

Even though he might not be considered a superstar, a shortstop that can hit 30 home runs is pretty rare, and he is certainly a very good player. 

Seeing improvements to the batting order will be key this year for San Francisco and that all starts with Adames. 

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Nick Ziegler
NICK ZIEGLER

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