3 reasons why the Brewers won't bring Willy Adames back, 1 why it could happen

The Milwaukee Brewers have handled the Willy Adames situation as best as they possibly could. He and former teammate Corbin Burnes were both barreling toward their final season of arbitration before hitting free agency as spring training was approaching. Then Burnes got flipped to Baltimore. Naturally, the questions about Adames' future quickly followed.

However, the Brewers front office remained steadfast in keeping Adames, telling him in spring training that they will not be trading him and the rumors quickly stopped. Adames would then go on to play out his contract in 2024 with Milwaukee.

Now, the 2024 season is over for Adames and the Brewers. He had a great year, playing in 161 games, hitting .251/.331/.462 with career highs in doubles (33), home runs (32), RBIs (112), and stolen bases (21). Heading into free agency as the premier shortstop on the market, that's as good of a season as you could hope for if you're Adames. It also exemplifies why the Brewers made the right move to keep him.

Now that Adames will hit the open market, the question becomes if he will return to Milwaukee on a new contract or if he will leave for 'green'er pastures.

3 reasons why Willy Adames will not stay with the Brewers

Adames' contract demands

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Adames is seeking a contract north of $200MM in free agency. Now, a lot of players seek big money like that heading into free agency but never actually get it. However, Adames does have leverage as the only viable starting shortstop on the free agent market and, as mentioned above, Adames is coming off a career year. Those things are very likely to equal a massive payday.

Playing a premium position and producing at the plate like he does makes Adames a rare commodity that teams will have to pay big bucks for. He's right to look for the $200MM contract and there's a decent chance he gets that. It doesn't hurt his cause that there are teams out there with the ability to dish out a $200MM contract to a shortstop. Teams like Los Angeles and San Francisco have needs at shortstop and a lot of money to play with.

The Brewers, quite simply, can't afford that. They gave Christian Yelich, who was coming off back-to-back MVP caliber seasons, a $188.5MM contract. Even though that was a few years ago and salaries for players have generally gone up significantly since then, it's still hard to see the Brewers paying Adames more than they paid Yelich when Adames, at his peak production, still is nowhere close to Yelich at his.

That brings me to the second reason.