Willy Adames impresses early in his SF Giants tenure as player and leader

The SF Giants handed out the largest contract in franchise history to shortstop Willy Adames this past offseason. In extremely early returns from camp, it looks like the Giants are getting exactly what they paid for.

The hope was that the Giants would be getting a shortstop who would be strong on defense, be reliable, and who could hit the ball out of the ballpark with regularity. Adames has also been lauded as a great clubhouse guy and a leader. It seems that is exactly what the Giants are getting.

Willy Adames showing the SF Giants they are getting what they paid for

In Adames' second swing of live batting practice, he went yard. Now, it is just live batting practice so it should be taken with a fraction of a very small grain of salt. Yet, it is still nice to see him hit the ball out of the ballpark in a Giants uniform.

It is also hard not to get excited at the prospect of Adames' power in the Giants' lineup. He hit 32 homers last season for the Milwaukee Brewers and has hit 24 or more homers in each season since 2021. If he could hit somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 home runs for San Francisco that would be huge for an offense that was too inconsistent last season.

Adames is also proving that he can be a leader for the team in camp. There was a brief video posted to social media showing him chatting it up with several of the players and joking around with them. Giants fans know how important team chemistry is for a team's success and there are three World Series championships to prove that, so it is great to see that Adames is already ingratiating himself with his teammates.

The Giants are investing a lot of money in Adames. $182 million over seven years to be exact. The only thing that really matters over the course of these exhibition games and practices is that he stays healthy. But it is nonetheless still nice to see these positive early signs for Adames.

It is also important to consider that Adames is with the Giants at the start of spring training. That is valuable time when chemistry is built and stands in stark contrast to third baseman Matt Chapman and starting pitcher Blake Snell who both signed when spring training games were already being played last year.

It is nice that the Giants' roster is already faurly set so guys can become familiar with one another and the team has time to congeal ahead of the regular season.

Adames is going to be a big part of the Giants for the rest of this decade. It is great to see him doing the things San Francisco signed him to do even if it is just a week into camp.