Willy Adames’ Prominent Place in Brewers History

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Photo via Willy Adames - Instagram

Willy Adames

Willy Adames

As the clock ticks on Willy Adames’ Milwaukee tenure, it’s worth pausing to take a look at the rarified air he’s reached in a relatively short time with the Brewers.

Adames was a major contributor as the Brewers piled on in a three-game sweep over the Braves in Atlanta last week, going 6-for-13 with three home runs and six runs scored to cap off a 22-game stretch where he batted .322 with a .385 on-base and .644 slugging. While his production does tend to come in streaks, a shortstop with Adames’ offensive production is a rare luxury across the game. FanGraphs estimates Adames has been the fifth-most valuable shortstop in baseball this season. 

This also could be Adames’ final run in Milwaukee: He’s scheduled to become a free agent this winter and another big season in 2024 makes it increasingly likely that he’s going to draw major interest on the open market. Adames and Milwaukee have been a great fit for each other these last four years, but the most likely outcome in free agency has him getting an offer the Brewers can’t or won’t match.

If this is Adames’ last season in Milwaukee, he’s going to leave behind an impressive legacy. The title of “Greatest Shortstop in Brewers History” is unassailable, of course: Robin Yount played nearly 1500 of his 2856 MLB games there before moving to center field and Adames would need to stay in Milwaukee and play at an extremely high level for a very long time to approach that conversation. Adames will probably get to 500 games played at the position sometime this week, however, and there’s a strong case to be made that he’s the second-best Brewer ever to play there. Here are the other candidates:

José Valentín

The 1992 trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Padres is often remembered for what Sheffield went on to become, but the best player the Brewers got in return also went on to be an above-average MLB regular for a long time. Valentín made his MLB debut later in the 1992 season and was the Brewers’ primary shortstop from 1994-99, where his 716 games played at the position are second only to Yount. 

He was never an All Star or a superstar, but as a Brewer Valentín was a routinely solid performer and might be more appreciated if he hadn’t shared an era with some all-time greats: Baseball Reference’s version of Wins Above Replacement has him as the 10th best shortstop of his span as a Brewers regular from 1994-99, but the group ahead of him includes Hall of Famers Barry Larkin, Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken, Jr. in addition to Alex Rodriguez.

J.J. Hardy

A second-round pick in the 2001 draft, Hardy was a regular in the big leagues already at 22 years old in 2005, an All Star in 2007 and, at least according to Baseball Reference’s version of WAR, he was the best position player (ahead of Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and others) on the 2008 team that reached the postseason for the first time in 26 years.

Hardy wasn’t with the Brewers as long as Valentín but his peak was higher: Hardy didn’t share a position and era with a bunch of future Hall of Famers like Valentín did but he may actually have been one of the best players in baseball at that spot during his best seasons, and defensive metrics have him about ten runs more valuable during his time in Milwaukee (+59.9 runs to Valentín’s 50.9) He also gains some intangible value for timing, as Valentín largely played for non-contending and forgettable Brewers groups while Hardy made major contributions to one of the biggest breakouts in franchise history.

Orlando Arcia

When Adames plays his 500th game at shortstop he’ll be the fifth Brewer ever to reach that plateau, joining Yount, Valentín, Hardy and the player who preceded him at the position, Orlando Arcia. Arcia was one of the most-hyped prospects in franchise history, ranked #6 in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline and #8 by Baseball America before the 2016 season, and played in 542 of a possible 609 games from his callup that season through his trade to the Braves in the first week of the 2021 campaign.

Arcia was younger than both Valentín, Hardy and Adames during his Brewers tenure and he was also less consistent at the plate, but defensively Arcia was the flashiest of the group and had the most highlight reel moments. And while Hardy played for a team that went to the postseason, Arcia had one of the best clutch runs in franchise history: He went 4-for-4 in the tiebreaker game at the end of the regular season in 2018 to help the Brewers knock off the Cubs and win the NL Central, then batted .360 with a .385 on-base and .600 slugging against the Dodgers in the NLCS.