Willy Adames hangs with his likely future replacement at SF Giants prospect camp

The SF Giants hosted a number of prospects at Oracle Park recently. The team dubs it “Oracle Camp” which is an annual tradition meant to expose some of the bright young players in the farm system to the community in San Francisco and the ballpark.

It’s a cool thing for the Giants to do and shortstop Willy Adames was even nice enough to come and visit with the prospects. He even came face to face with Josuar Gonzalez, the top prospect in the system who has a good chance to replace Adames at shortstop someday. They can be seen together in the first picture below.

This is not the first time the two have met. They met one another a few years ago in 2024 when Gonzalez was first signed and, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, international scouting director Joe Salermo joked that Gonzalez was the guy who would take Adames' job. Adames joked back saying he would have to wait at least seven years. Well, it might not actually be that long at this rate.

Gonzalez may only be 19 years old, but the sky already seems to be the limit for him. He began 2026 in the Arizona Complex League and got called up, along with 18-year-old Luis Hernandez, to the Single-A San Jose Giants where he hit .357/.444/.566 with three home runs, 35 runs batted in, and 13 stolen bases across 31 games and 153 plate appearances.

The Dominican-born player seems to have all the tools. He’s seen as a great defender, has speed, can hit from both sides of the plate, and while the power isn’t quite there now, there is belief it will come as he gets older and stronger. He might even be ranked as the top prospect in baseball next year.

Giants have been burned before by young shortstop prospects

For better or worse, Gonzalez is going to be looked at as the future for the Giants at shortstop the same way that Marco Luciano was. It didn’t quite work out for Luciano but maybe with Gonzalez he will end up panning out.

With the way that Adames struggled last season and was banged up due to injury, one can’t help but think about when the young shortstop might supplant him. Gonzalez is still a few years away from the majors and Adames is under contract until 2031 so a change is not imminent, but it’s likely going to be a narrative at some point.

For now, Gonzalez is still just a teenager trying to work his way up the minors, but in 2029 or 2030 he may challenge Adames as the team's starting shortstop.

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