Sometimes Plan B turns out to be a much better option than Plan A. Plan A for the big money, large market organizations is Juan Soto. The entire top of the hitting market is currently being held up waiting for Soto to sign.

For Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, that means his market is being held up.

The latest intel from Mark Feinsand indicates that Soto has offers in hand and is eliminating teams until he finds the deal he wants.

With the Winter Meetings starting Sunday night in Dallas, every expectation is that Soto will have chosen his new team by the end of those Meetings. However, it’s also quite likely Soto will make his announcement early in the Meetings to allow for a full press conference and kickstart everyone else’s market in Dallas.

The first player who will have his market kickstarted appears to be Willy Adames.

Willy Adames is reportedly “drawing interest” from the Yankees, per @Feinsand. pic.twitter.com/4Fdce5BCaR

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 4, 2024

Willy Adames rumored to be backup plan for Soto bidders

Only one team can sign Juan Soto. There are several teams that have been in the mix, including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The most recent rumors suggest the Dodgers have been eliminated for Soto, but they still have a potential opening at shortstop.

For the others, rumors report that the Yankees are highly interested in Adames as a backup plan if Soto signs elsewhere and the Red Sox are another team with interest if they cannot land Soto with a plan to put Adames at third base and move Rafael Devers to first.

All of these teams bidding for Soto have a lot of money to spend, clearly as the floor for Soto’s deal has reached $600MM, and they have a strong desire to improve their offense.

Adames is coming off a career year with 32 home runs and 112 RBIs and is the second best position player on the free agent market behind Soto. He’s the most logical choice for any team looking to boost their offense in a big way.

Willy Adames is in an enviable position as Plan B. These teams are desperate for the offensive help and have clearly indicated they have money to spend, so they aren’t able to cry poor and hardball Adames and his agent.

After all but one of these big market clubs whiffs on Soto are they going to want to get stingy on their backup option, too? Probably not. Adames is in prime position for a bidding war and to cash in himself. Before free agency, it was reported he was seeking $200MM.

There’s also teams with money to spend and a need at shortstop that aren’t in the bidding for Soto that have interest in Adames. The San Francisco Giants have not been shy about their need for a shortstop nor their willingness to spend money. They just haven’t been able to lure a star player to San Fran.

For new team President Buster Posey, that’s likely to be a priority he’s going to want to get across the finish line. They can jump in here as well, but as interested as they reportedly are, Adames won’t sign with them until Soto is off the board.

If it hasn’t become clear to Brewers fans by now, the fact that all these big market clubs with tons of cash to spend are going to pivot to Adames following the conclusion of the Soto sweepstakes is a clear sign that Adames has played his last game in a Brewers uniform.

There haven’t been any public reports about the Brewers making a push for Adames in free agency and trying to fend off the large market clubs to keep their star shortstop following his rejection of the qualifying offer.

Manager Pat Murphy has publicly expressed skepticism about an Adames return and these new rumors are just further proof that Adames will have a new team in 2025.