Former San Francisco Giants Infielder Signs With Another NL West Rival

The San Francisco Giants let this Gold Glove infielder go and all he’s done since is sign with National League West teams.

Jul 7, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Nick Ahmed (16) celebrates his double in the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

If the idea of releasing Nick Ahmed was to get away from him, it certainly hasn’t worked out for the San Francisco Giants.

Since the Giants officially released Ahmed on July 10, all he’s done is play for National League West rivals. He signed a minor-league deal with the San Diego Padres on Sunday, the team announced, putting him in line to help the Padres if they need it down the stretch.

San Diego is six games out of the NL West lead but are hanging on to a two-game lead for one of the Wild Card spots.

The Padres assigned him to their Arizona Complex League, per his MLB.com bio page.

Before that, Ahmed was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is where he landed after San Francisco released him.

In 17 games with the Dodgers, he slashed .229/.245/.292/.537 with one home run and two RBI. He provided solid defense for Los Angeles, but he became expendable when the Dodgers activated infielders Tommy Edman and Max Muncy from the injured list.

Los Angeles designated him for assignment on Aug. 19, and after he cleared waivers he refused an assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City, opting to become a free agent.

His bat and injuries did him in with the Giants, who DFA'd him on July 9 and released him the next day.

In 52 games with San Francisco, he batted .232/.278/.303/.581 with six doubles, one triple, one home run and 15 RBI. He beat out Marco Luciano to be the Opening Day shortstop, but didn’t work out as hoped.

A wrist injury didn’t help, either. He went on the IL on May 10 and returned on June 14.

Releasing Ahmed eventually paved the way for Tyler Fitzgerald, who has been an offensive force at shortstop since being given the full-time job.

Ahmed signed a minor-league deal with the Giants after spending more than 10 years with the Arizona Diamondbacks. During his tenure there, he was a two-time Gold Glove winner whose low slash numbers in 2023 led to the Diamondbacks designating him for assignment to make room for one of their top prospects, Jordan Lawler.

Originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the second round of the 2011 MLB draft out of UConn, Ahmed joined Arizona via trade and was the first player in franchise history to play 10 seasons with the club.

Once he overcame injuries in 2016 and 2017, he hit his stride.

He won his two Gold Gloves in 2018 and 2019, while also putting together his best offensive season in 2019 when he slashed .254/.316/.437/.753 with career highs in home runs (19) and RBI (82).