ESPN: Sensational Gold Glover Says This Winter, He Nearly Became a Yankee.

Willy Adames envisioned himself wearing pinstripes and playing left-side infield like his childhood hero. It was so close to really occurring. The shortstop was negotiating with the Yankees before the Giants signed him to a seven-year, $182 million contract in early December, according to a story published on Sunday by Dan Martin of the New York Post. “I knew it was a possibility for me to play here,” Adames said. “We had a conversation and it was amazing.”

He’s talking about a Zoom conference when the Yankees made a strong argument to Yankees brass, including manager Aaron Boone. It wasn’t the statistics or the figures that caught Adames’ attention. The tone was the problem. “It was more about me, the person, than about my stats,” Adames stated. “I really liked that.”

Boone was also impressed. Boone remarked on Saturday, “We’re a big fan of that player and getting to talk to him,” “He’s definitely a guy we were very interested in and really liked.” As a lifetime admirer of Derek Jeter, Adames looked to be a perfect match in New York. He delivers power from the right side, is a Gold-Glove defender, and has the attitude the Yankees have been looking for more and more. What then took place?

Between Oswaldo Cabrera, Palbo Reyes, Oswald Peraza, and DJ LeMahieu, how did the Yankees manage to assemble their third baseman? They could have had a youthful, athletic, and active left side of the infield and moved Jazz Chisholm, Jr. back to third base if they had signed Adames. The Yankees were still negotiating for Juan Soto throughout their talks; he would ultimately accept a contract worth an incredible $765 million and 15 years with the crosstown Mets. While the Soto option was still open, the Yankees were unable to commit to Adames.

“We were going through the Soto stuff and weren’t able to commit to him, one way or the other,” Boone explained. “He went off the board pretty quick there.”
On December 7, Adames signed a contract with San Francisco. Soto’s contract with the Mets was finalized four days later. “The timeline didn’t work out for them to bring me to New York,” Adames stated.