The Atlanta Braves have some important free agent questions after the conclusion of the 2024 season and one of the biggest of those questions is lefty ace Max Fried. There are many other free agents on the team that will be looked at. But Fried remains the name that everyone has their sights set on.
There will be a lot of work to do for Alex Anthopoulos and company come 2025 and while the Braves are in the middle of a tight playoff push, let's examine one free agent not named Max Fried who should be on Atlanta's radar.
Willy Adames needs to be at the top of Braves offseason shopping list
Willy Adames is a talented shortstop who has spent time with the Rays and Brewers. He will be a free agent after the season and while the Braves have a suitable and affordable option with Orlando Arcia, there are reasons Adames would be an excellent addition.
Atlanta had interest in Adames last year and according to MLB insider Robert Murray, they are expected to have interest in the infielder again.
Why wouldn't they? The Dominican Republic native is a strong fielder with above average range and arm strength. He also has consistent power that would be a nice addition to the Braves lineup.
Orlando Arcia is super affordable as he's owed $2 million for the 2025 season. Adames earned $12.25 million in 2024 so his cost is expected to be considerably higher next season than Arcia. That could ultimately be the deciding factor for the Braves if they added Adames to the roster.
The one area Adames is worse than Arcia is with whiff and strikeout percentage. Adames has a 29.7% whiff percentage and a 25% strikeout percentage. Arcia's isn't much better though at 25.8% and 20.5% respectively in the same categories.
However, when you look beyond that, Adames is an upgrade offensively in many ways. His barrel percentage sticks out at 11.3% which is in the 77th percentile in baseball. He also excels in xwOBA (.347), xSLG (.472), LA sweet spot percentage (37.4%), bat speed (73.6), and walk percentage (11.6%). All of those advanced metrics rank 77th or higher among all MLB players.
WILLY NUKE! #ThisIsMyCrew #Brewers pic.twitter.com/HeH9ZsxnjU
— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) August 25, 2024
To say he'd be an offensive upgrade over Arcia is an understatement. Again, Arcia plays excellent defense and his OAA of 7 indicates he may have a slight edge over Adames range wise, but the Brewers shortstop has a great OAA of 2 which is still well above average. Both Willy and Orlando have great arm strength.
So, the decision here will come down to what the Atlanta Braves value most this offseason with some important choices for personnel. Adames allows the Braves to keep a great defender at shortstop while adding potential for much more offensive output but at a higher cost.
Eating the remainder of Arcia's contract wouldn't hurt the team but Orlando has shown his ability to be clutch offensively in the past and some this season. However, his .225 average through 125 games may force Atlanta to consider moving on from him. Arcia's defense is good enough that the team may just continue to go with him and hope he can at least hit for average.
However, don't be surprised if Alex Anthopoulos and company seriously consider the upgrade that would be Willy Adames.