The New York Yankees were among the teams that Willy Adames really wanted to play for, and in their offseason meeting, it was revealed by Dan Martin of the New York Post that a union was more likely than we thought. Adames grew up idolizing Derek Jeter, who inspired him to wear the number two, and he would have loved the opportunity to play for his hero’s only team. The problem? It wasn’t that the Yankees would have Adames slide over to third base, but that they were still tied up in pursuit of outfielder Juan Soto.
Looking to sign before Christmas, the Giants came in and offered Willy Adames a seven-year $182 million contract that he couldn’t turn down, all of which occurred before Soto ended up signing with the Mets.
Willy Adames’ Excellent Meeting With Yankees Was Stifled By Juan Soto Chase
The Yankees have been searching for right-handed hitting even as we sit two weeks into the 2025 season, and Willy Adames would have been a great fit for the offense. It wasn’t a lack of interest that caused them to miss out, but rather a pursuit of Juan Soto that had yet to subside by the time Adames received a lucrative offer from the Giants. While he is not off to a great start with his new team, putting up a -0.4 fWAR and 52 wRC+ through his first 15 games, the power and defense he would bring at the hot corner was something the Bronx Bombers coveted heavily.
Aaron Boone was said to be among those present for this meeting, and Adames had really appreciated how the Yankees made it more about just his statistical output. With the Brewers, the 29-year-old swatted 32 home runs with a 119 wRC+ across 161 games, playing a huge part in their shocking run to the NL Central crown after the news that Craig Counsell would leave the Brew Crew for their division rivals in Chicago. The Yankees were hoping to have some of that right-handed power in their offense, but it was not meant to be as the team would end up signing Max Fried instead.
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Whether the Yankees would have signed both Willy Adames and Max Fried if he was available on the market when Juan Soto had signed with the Mets is never going to be clear. Given the team’s current issues, one could argue that landing Fried was far more important than landing Adames, as the rotation has struggled mightily to start the season and he’s been their only bright spot. The left-hander delivered a huge outing in Detroit where he fired seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts, walking zero batters.
The Giants still did come to New York, where Adames got to play the very position that his idol played at the ballpark that Derek Jeter called home for two decades. San Francisco came back down 3-0 to win the final game of the series and take the series, as these two teams will not see each other again in the regular season. Next year, the Yankees will travel to San Francisco to take on the Giants instead, so Willy Adames will have to wait until 2027 (assuming the CBA doesn’t alter the schedule format) to return to the Bronx.