Braves are the perfect team to take Willy Adames off SF Giants' hands

The latest rumors surrounding the SF Giants suggest they are willing to trade away their players with big contracts like Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Rafael Devers. It just so happens the Giants are about to face off against the Atlanta Braves, the perfect team to take Adames off San Francisco’s hands.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently looked at every MLB team’s needs ahead of the trade deadline and he noted that Atlanta is in need of a shortstop. He even floated Adames as a potential target for the Braves if he became available.

Well, it now seems Adames is available so the Giants would be wise to entertain talks with the Braves who are at 46-25 on the year and almost certain to be a playoff team. Atlanta usually either has former Giant Mauricio Dubón, who is having a great year and is well-established as a utility man, or Ha-Seong Kim, who feels like a former Giant given how much speculation there was about San Francisco signing him a few offseasons ago, playing shortstop.

Dubón is solid there but the Braves probably want him as a more flexible option who can be moved around the diamond. Kim is hitting a dismal .089/.177/.089 in 56 at-bats so he is clearly not cutting it. They also have Jorge Mateo who they use at shortstop a decent amount and he is hitting .287/.330/.468 with four home runs and 11 runs batted in. His lack of a proven track record makes one wonder how sustainable those numbers are, though.

While Adames has been a disappointment this year, he would certainly represent a marked improvement over Atlanta’s current options. Entering Tuesday’s game he’s hitting .229/.274/.418 with 11 home runs and 29 runs batted in. His power is still there and the Giants could sell Atlanta on the fact that Adames really heated up in the second half last season.

His defense is certainly an issue like it was in the first half of last season but the Braves might be willing to overlook that as long as he hits a bunch of home runs which should be easy to do in a much more hitter-friendly yard than Oracle Park.

Of course, the biggest impediment to a deal is Adames’ contract. He is going to be owed over $30 million per season through 2031 which is not the kind of deal teams want to take on when it’s pretty clear a player is starting to decline. The Giants would also certainly have to agree to pay some of that off in order to get Atlanta to agree to a trade.

Maybe the Giants could get at least one top-10 prospect from the Braves in exchange for Adames if they agree to throw in some money as part of the deal. Right-handed pitcher Owen Murphy, ranked No. 5 in Atlanta’s system, could be a nice addition.

It wouldn’t hurt if Adames made a nice impression during the upcoming series against Atlanta. If he hits a couple home runs maybe that means the Giants will have to pay down less of his contract to get a trade done. Hey, now that's something to root for!

The Giants are seemingly open to a rebuild and the Braves can really help them in that effort while also bolstering their own roster ahead of the playoffs so a swap for Adames could make a lot of sense for both teams.

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