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.

The Brewers have already admitted Adames is likely gone

When the regular season came to an end, manager Pat Murphy told reporters "chances are, that's his last regular season game in a Brewers uniform and everybody knows that."

Owner Mark Attanasio said prior to the Wild Card series, "He's going to get an enormous free agent contract and I'm very happy for him and his family, and we'll give it our best shot. But there's a lot deeper pockets out there."

When the team owner and the manager aren't exactly bursting with optimism about their chances to re-sign Adames, that's a pretty good indication that Adames is not going to be returning.

It's not a reflection that they don't want Adames, it's actually the complete opposite. They'd love to keep him, but the economic reality is they aren't going to be able to afford him. They already have Yelich on a big contract, Chourio's contract is team-friendly but going to be growing, if Hoskins opts in, he'll have a big salary, they simply aren't able to tack on another $25+MM a year for the next several years for Adames.

Milwaukee already has Adames' replacement on their roster

Desperation can make a team be willing to spend a little bit more than they'd like to in order to address a hole on their roster. Teams overpay to fill needs in free agency all the time. The Brewers don't tend to be one of those teams, partially because of their financial restraints. Why would the Brewers need to stretch that much for Adames when they aren't even desperate to find a shortstop to replace him?

The Brewers have two MLB-caliber shortstops on their roster with major league experience in Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz. Both are excellent defenders, arguably superior defenders to Adames, and both took major steps forward offensively in 2024. Plus, both are still pre-arbitration which means they'll be earning near-league minimum salary.

The few times Adames was taken out of games this year, Ortiz slid over to shortstop and he appears to have the inside track to that job over Turang, who has found a good home at second base. No matter which direction they go, the Brewers will be set at shortstop with one of those two very good options.

If Adames was the only star player the Brewers roster had and he was the only capable shortstop the Brewers could go to, it'd be much easier to see Milwaukee going all out to sign him and prevent him from leaving. But that's not the case.