Former Brewers fan favorite has turned things around after slow start with the Giants

This time last year, there was an open question of how much Willy Adames would go for on the open market. Would his next contract actually exceed $200 million? Would he fall short due to the qualifying offer?

The only thing that was known was that he most likely wasn't coming back to Milwaukee. Through parts of four seasons and 548 games with the Milwaukee Brewers, Adames hit 107 home runs and stole 38 bases, posting a .780 OPS and 13.9 WAR. He was one of the best shortstops in baseball from 2021-24, and he had priced himself out of the Crew's budget.

His free agency saga came to an end just before the Winter Meetings, as Adames inked a seven-year, $182 million pact with the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first big fish reeled in by new President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey.

Things started off slowly for Adames in the Bay Area, as he slashed a paltry .208/.292/.300 in his first month in San Francisco.

However, as the weather warmed, so too did Adames. He's nearing a career-high in home runs while posting some of the best individual months of his career.

Willy Adames posting huge second half in first season with San Francisco Giants

Adames is now hitting .230/.318/.432 with the Giants this season, good for a 110 wRC+. That's a significant drop-off from last year (120 wRC+), but those numbers are all right in line with his career performance.

Those numbers are dragged down by his slow start, as he posted a 92 wRC+ in the first half, and didn't hit better than .216 in any month through June.

When the calendar flipped to July, though, Adames completely turned things around. He slashed .337/.442/.674 (203 wRC+) that month, and after a topsy-turvy August, he's doing similar things in September (.269/.355/.654).

He's already hit four more home runs in the second half than he did in the first half, and his 16 blasts since the All-Star break rank tied for fifth in all of baseball with Shohei Ohtani. For reference, the co-leaders on the Brewers in that span, William Contreras and Brice Turang, have 11 each.

It's safe to say that he's finally started to live up to his contract in recent months, but Brewers fans shouldn't be too upset about his departure. Joey Ortiz has taken over the shortstop position full-time this year, and even though his offensive output (.591 OPS, 66 wRC+) has left something to be desired, he's a surefire Gold Glove candidate thanks to the 13 Outs Above Average he's recorded at short.

Plus, the team received the draft pick that became Brady Ebel when Adames signed with the Giants. Through 16 games with the Carolina Mudcats, the 18-year-old Ebel has a .333 on-base percentage.