Former Giant Duffy delivers ringing endorsement of Adames signing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — For three days at the MLB Winter Meetings in Dallas, just about all Buster Posey heard from outsiders was that he had gotten the right guy.
Willy Adames, signed by Posey just before the start of the annual event, has as good a clubhouse reputation as anyone in the game, and Posey and Giants officials heard over and over again that the whole organization would benefit greatly from the new addition.
Some endorsements carry a bit more weight, though, and on Wednesday night, Posey got a pretty good one from a player who teamed up with both the new president of baseball operations and the new shortstop.
Adames became close with Matt Duffy when the two were Tampa Bay Rays infielders and Duffy texted Posey on Wednesday to tell him how much he thought of Adames as a teammate. A day later, Duffy reiterated that the Giants got a great presence for the clubhouse.
“One of the few true clubhouse game changers I’ve played with,” Duffy said in a text to NBC Sports Bay Area.
Duffy, who played last season with the Texas Rangers, said Adames keeps everyone on track even if he’s struggling and “understands the highs and lows of the game.” He “works hard and has fun playing,” he added.
“Totally genuine,” Duffy said. “Just a happy kid who loves baseball.”
It probably didn’t surprise Posey to find out that Duffy and Adames are close, so much so that the new Giant was one of the few players at Duffy’s wedding a few years ago.
Duffy had a similar reputation as a clubhouse guy and the trade that sent him to Tampa Bay in 2016 was taken hard in the clubhouse. Some young players on that team felt Duffy, who was in his third year at the time, was the one who connected them to the veterans who had won multiple rings and blamed the trade for much of the second-half collapse.
Duffy spent three seasons in Tampa Bay and was one of the team leaders when Adames broke in as a shortstop in 2018. Adames hit two spots behind Duffy in his big league debut and they were teammates for two seasons.
“That’s my guy,” Adames said at the press conference, smiling. “He loved this city. He always talked good about the city and that’s my guy. I call him ‘flaco’ because he’s not too jacked, but I love that guy. He always says great things about this city, but I’m probably going to give him a call and tell him that he has to recommend some places here.”
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