The Giants may already be staring at a shortstop question they hoped would wait a lot longer.
When San Francisco signed Willy Adames to a seven-year, $182 million contract, the understanding was clear: he probably wouldn’t finish the deal at shortstop. The only real mystery was timing. The Giants could have hoped for a longer runway at the position before eventually shifting him to second base, but that plan may need to be revisited much sooner.
That’s because Adames had a rough season defensively at short, and the numbers were ugly no matter where you looked. He finished with -17 Outs Above Average, -14 Fielding Run Value and -5 Defensive Runs Saved, all while committing 18 errors. The metrics backed up what the eye test showed: he was a liability at a premium spot.
There was context, of course. Adames dealt with a back ailment that likely cut into his range, and he tried to keep playing through it.
Still, his mobility appeared to slip as the season went on. He’ll enter his age-31 season next year, which isn’t ancient - but it is around the stage when defense at shortstop can start to fade.
For now, the position has been in someone else’s hands. Since Adames went on the injured list, Christian Koss has handled shortstop and has started to heat up with more playing time. Casey Schmitt and Osleivis Basabe are the only other Giants to log even an inning there.
The bigger issue is what comes next. San Francisco already went through one major defensive reshuffle over the last year, moving Jung Hoo Lee from center field to right after bringing in Harrison Bader to take over in center. That switch came after only Lee’s second year of a six-year deal.
It didn’t really solve the problem, either. Bader has missed most of this season because of injuries and a scooter incident, leaving Drew Gilbert and Jonah Cox to cover for what looks like a permanent absence.
Lee’s move also underscores the difference between shifting an outfielder and moving an infielder. Outfielders can sometimes drift back and forth.
Infielders usually don’t.
That matters here, because the Giants have long sold themselves on pitching and defense. They can’t afford to shrug at shortstop and expect everything else to hold together, especially with a staff built around ground-ball pitchers who need clean work behind them.
So the offseason task is pretty straightforward, even if the answer isn’t: the Giants need to know who their shortstop will be in 2027. If it isn’t Adames, they’ll probably have to find someone outside the organization, because the 40-man depth chart doesn’t offer much help.
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