Tampa Bay Rays Scouting Report on SS Willy Adames
Willy Adames worked his way to the top of the Tampa Bay Rays list. What could he do in 2017 for the organization?
Player Profile
The Tampa Bay Rays acquired Adames from the Detroit Tigers as part of the deal that traded their ace away in midseason 2014.
Detroit originally signed Willy Rafael (Luna) Adames from the Dominican Republic in July of 2012 for a $420K bonus.
Adames made his professional debut with the Tigers’ Dominican Summer League team. He played 60 games, hitting .245/.419/.370 with one home run, nine stolen bases, a 20.97 percent walk rate and a 16.48 percent strikeout rate.
That solid performance encouraged the Tigers to be aggressive with Adames, promoting him all the way past stateside rookie leagues to West Michigan in the full season low-A Midwest League.
His play had made such an impression that the Tampa Bay Rays insisted on Adames as part of the trade package when they traded ace David Price to the Detroit Tigers on July 31, 2014 as part of a 3-team trade. Adames and Drew Smyly went from Detroit to Tampa Bay, Price went from Tampa Bay to Detroit, Seattle traded infielder Nick Franklin to Tampa Bay, and outfielder Austin Jackson went from Detroit to Seattle.
The Tampa Bay Rays kept Adames at the same level, sending him to their Midwest League affiliate in Bowling Green to finish out the 2014 season.
Combined in 2014, the 18-year-old hit .271/.353/.429 with eight home runs and six stolen bases. He also smacked 14 triples with a 10.51 percent walk rate and 24.51 percent strikeout rate.
After that solid season and being the key piece in such a notable trade, Adames was on the prospect radar, ranking #84 by Baseball America, #77 by MLB Pipeline and #94 by Baseball Prospectus.
The Tampa Bay Rays are known for “slow roasting” their prospects, bringing them up one level at a time, and Adames was no different, moving up to high-A Charlotte in the Florida State League in 2015.
At 19, he was one of few teenagers in high-A ball the whole season, though his season was finished early due to a stress reaction in his elbow. He finished with a .258/.342/.379 line with four home runs, 10 steals, an 11.84 percent walk rate and a 26.97 percent strikeout rate.
Questions on how the elbow would affect him going forward led to some inconsistency in his ranking as he rose to #46 with BA, dropped to #81 with MLB Pipeline and rose to #54 with BP.
Adames spent 2016 with Montgomery in the AA Southern League. He showed dramatic improvement across the board, answering all questions about his elbow.
On the season, Adames hit .274/.372/.430 with 11 home runs, 13 stolen bases, a 13.03 percent walk rate and a 21.3 percent strikeout rate.
After showing improvement at the plate and in the field at an upper minor league level, Adames jumped up rankings, climbing to #10 with BA, #21 with MLB Pipeline and #21 with BP.
I had Adames #18 overall in my top 125 on Call to the Pen in January.
Next: Adames' scouting report