The Brewers have been very active in the trade market early on to begin this 2021 season. Their most recent trade landed them shortstop Willy Adames and right handed pitcher Trevor Richards.
Rays getting J.P. Feyereisen, Drew Rasmussen from Rays for Willy Adames, source tells @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 21, 2021
Adames is just 25 years old and is under club control through the 2024 season. He throws and bats from the right hand side and is a well respected defender around the league.
The career numbers for Adames show a .255/.321/.420/.740 slash line. He did hit 20 home runs during the 2019 season and overall hits the ball very hard. His biggest weakness offensively is a career 29.7 strikeout percentage.
The biggest question regarding this trade is whether or not Willy Adames will be the long term answer at the shortstop position.
Prior to the trade for Adames, the Brewers traded away Orlando Arcia. That essentially made Luis Urias the everyday shortstop. It is quite odd that the Brewers gutted it out with Arcia’s offensive inconsistencies for many years whereas Luis Urias’s leash was rather short.
With acquiring Adames, Urias will now shift over into a utility infielder role. Adames will certainly be an upgrade from a defensive consistency perspective for Urias has been making his errors in bunches this season. This does make me believe that Adames will have a longer leash than Urias had.
Right now, the Brewers need to hope that Adames can turn it around at the plate for he is hitting well below his career averages to begin the 2021 season.
Adames possesses a career 103 OPS+ but is at a dismal 82 so far this year. It is possible that his slow offensive start is one reason why the Rays elected to part ways with him, but throughout his career he has been an above average hitter at his position.
Between being an above average hitting shortstop and a well respected defender, this does give me confidence that Adames can be the long term solution at the shortstop position. Only time will tell but I think fans should be very excited about the player the Brewers just acquired.
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