The Red Sox may be sitting just 0.5 game back in the AL Wild Card, but that doesn’t mean every expensive name on the market makes sense for them. One of the latest suggestions has Boston tied to a familiar Giants piece: Willy Adames.
Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden, writing for The Athletic, said the Red Sox could be a match for the San Francisco shortstop, calling him a "good fit" for the lineup.
"The Giants will listen to their core veteran players, like Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames, but their contracts make them tough to move," Bowden writes. "I do think Adames would be a good fit with the Red Sox, however."
Adames is in the middle of a seven-year, $182 million contract that pays him $28 million per season through 2031, which is exactly the kind of number that turns a possible fit into a complicated one. If San Francisco were willing to cover part of the money, the trade price would likely rise. If they weren’t, the Red Sox would be taking on a huge commitment.
And the on-field production hasn’t exactly made the deal easier to sell. Adames is hitting .230 with 1.3 bWAR and a .701 OPS this season.
Boston does have a need in the infield, with Marcelo Mayer, Trevor Story, and others not performing at the level the club would want. But that doesn’t automatically make a major financial swing the right answer, especially for a player carrying that kind of contract and those numbers.
The Red Sox already went through a blockbuster with the Giants over a year ago, when Rafael Devers was sent west in a deal that produced mixed results. Given that history, it’s hard to see Boston eager to jump into another expensive situation with San Francisco unless the price is far more favorable than Adames’s contract suggests.
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