From the beginning, the San Francisco Giants' 2026 Major League Baseball season was doomed to fail. 

The Giants got off to a rough start, one from which they could never recover. By the end of the 162-game slate, San Francisco's record was 65-97, its worst mark since 2017. It also marked the fifth straight season in which the Giants missed the playoffs. 

By early August, when the MLB trade deadline occurred, it was pretty clear that the Giants were not going to make a run that would result in them becoming a playoff team, especially in the hardened National League West Division.

At that point, President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey traded multiple talented players, including Luis Arraez, Heliot Ramos and Robbie Ray. 

However, other veterans remained on the roster, one of which was Willy Adames. 

The 2026 campaign was Adames' ninth in MLB and his second with the Giants. 

In Adames' first season with the Giants in 2025, after leaving the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent, he experienced a slight decline in his numbers across the board. That decline continued in 2026. 

In the 2025 campaign, Adames played 160 games and posted a .225 batting average, a .318 on-base percentage, a .421 slugging percentage and a .739 OPS with 30 home runs and 87 RBIs. 

This season, Adames' time on the field was cut short when he suffered a left elbow sprain that landed him on the 10-day Injured List on Aug. 24. Therefore, he only appeared in 121 games, and while his batting average was slightly better at .230, his on-base percentage fell to .289, his OPS fell to .713 and he hit nine fewer home runs. 

As a defender, Adames was also not at his best. In 121 games at shortstop, he posted a .962 fielding percentage, which was his lowest mark since the 2020 season, and he also committed 18 errors, the second-highest mark of his career. 

When Adames signed with the Giants, it was for seven years and $182 million. He made $13.1 million in 2026, and, according to Spotrac, his payroll will increase dramatically to $31.1 million in 2027, a number that will carry on through the rest of his contract until he becomes an unrestricted free agent at age 36. 

Perhaps Adames will have a bounce-back year in 2027, but it is a little concerning for the Giants to have to pay him so much more over the remaining life of his contract. Maybe San Francisco's front office will find a way to move on from him if he experiences further decline, but all this team can do is hope for the best from him in the immediate future.