As the Boston Red Sox, along with several other teams, continue their hot pursuit of generational free agent Juan Soto, the club is looking at backup plans in the event they fail to land this offseason’s top prize.
On the other hand, Red Sox President Sam Kennedy has said that the team feels “extreme urgency” to contend for the American League East pennant in 2025 as well as to make a deep playoff run, so it seems possible that the team’s reported latest step could indicate that they are seeking to supplement Soto on the roster if their chase of the former New York Yankee proves successful.
A top X (formerly Twitter) Red Sox news account, with more than 70,000 followers, Boston Strong, reported Thursday that the Red Sox held a “productive” meeting with former Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, who ranks among the hottest non-Soto free agent position players on the market this winter.
Adames’ Price Tag Could Run Above $230 Million
Earlier in the week, veteran USA Today baseball reporter Bob Nightengale said that Red Sox had scheduled an “upcoming meeting” with Adames, and that the Boston organization was showing “strong interest” in signing the 29-year-old native of Santiago, Dominican Republic.
What would signing Adames cost the Red Sox? While the sports business site SpoTrac estimates his market value at about $152 million over a six-year contract, other estimates see his total price as, realistically, much higher.
The Baseball Trade Values site, which uses an algorithmic statistical model to project player market values, sees the price tag for the seven-year veteran running as high as $231 million over eight years, or $211 over seven.
“That might make your eyes water, but $30 million should be the floor for an All-Star shortstop set to enter his age-29 season,” wrote Chris Landers, Brewers correspondent for Fansided. “Especially when teams like the Dodgers, Braves and San Francisco Giants are going to be driving up the bidding.”
Signed as a 17-year-old international amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers in 2013, Adames was shipped to Tampa Bay as part of the trade for former AL Cy Young winner David Price the following year. After three seasons with the Rays, during which he mostly struggled while showing occasional flashes of the potential the Tigers had seen, Tampa Bay dealt Adames to the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2021 season.
Signing Adames Would Mean Position Switch for Devers
That was where Adames began to flourish. Playing exclusively at shortstop, Adames became one of the most productive-hitting middle infielders in the game, belting at least 20 home runs in each of his four seasons. Adames’ time in Milwaukee culminated in a career-high 32 home runs in 2024. He then became a free agent after declining the Brewers’ qualifying offer on November 19.
If the Red Sox were to sign Adames, he would not fit in at shortstop where Boston already has Trevor Story. After three injury-shortened seasons, Story appears finally healthy entering the fourth season of his six-year, $140 million contract.
Adames has reportedly expressed openness to switching positions, moving over to third base. That’s where the Red Sox currently have their highest-paid player and face of the franchise Rafael Devers. But according to Nightengale, team officials “have internally discussed moving Devers off third base,” presumably to first base, or to be a full-time designated hitter.
