Willy Adames (29), one of the "biggest fish" in the FA (free agent) market, is soaring in popularity this winter.메이저놀이터
The U.S. weekly magazine Newsweek reported on the 8th (Korea time) that "FA shortstop Adames received more than $160 million (about 221.4 billion won) in seven years from the New York Mets," citing reporter Mike Rodriguez's SNS (social network service) post.
"The New York Mets have made Adames an option to change his position to third baseman," the media continued, adding, "But Adames is known to want to continue to hold on to his shortstop position."
There was no detailed comment on the size of the offer, but the media said, "I understand that the Los Angeles Dodgers, the winner of the 2024 World Series, also made an offer related to the FA contract to Adames."
Adames, a native of the Dominican Republic, made his major league debut with Tampa Bay in 2018. He is also familiar to Korean fans as he led the revival of Tampa Bay with Choi Ji-man (33) before being traded to Milwaukee in 2021.
Adames is not a defensive shortstop like Kim Ha-sung, but an offensive shortstop who combines power. Since his Major League debut, he has hit double-digit home runs every season until this year, except in 2020, when the COVID-19 incident caused him to shorten the season by one-third.
In particular, this year ahead of the FA, he played a total of 161 games with a batting average of 0.251 and 33 home runs and 112 RBIs. Both home runs and RBIs were career highs. This is not the first time Adames has hit 30 home runs this season. He also hit 31 home runs in 2022.
The New York Mets asked Adames to change his defensive position to third base because Francisco Lindor, 31, is in the team. Lindor is also a power shortstop who hits double-digit home runs every season.
The Mets and the Dodgers, who had a showdown in the National League Championship Series this post season, are now in the race again to recruit Adames. We wonder how the Mets, who lost to the Dodgers in the NLCS, will fare in the race to recruit Adames.