The Giants have launched shortstop Nick Ahmed, based on his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The membership had designated him for task earlier this week. He’s now a free agent and might signal with any membership.
Coming into 2024, San Francisco appeared dedicated to shifting on from the Brandon Crawford period, one thing the longtime Large mentioned again in March. The plan was to present extra taking part in time to youthful choices like Marco Luciano and Casey Schmitt, however Ahmed was introduced in as a veteran fallback plan and finally gained the job out of camp.
Ahmed has lengthy served as a glove-first shortstop within the large leagues, however his subpar offense dropped even decrease final yr. The Giants had been certainly hoping for a little bit of a bounceback this yr however didn’t fairly get it.
He had hit .241/.299/.401 from 2018 to 2022, with that manufacturing translating to an 83 wRC+. However that dropped to a line of .212/.257/.303 and a 51 wRC+ final yr. It has climbed a bit right here in 2024 however solely barely, as he hit .232/.278/.303 for a wRC+ of 68 previous to being designated for task.
On prime of that, his elite protection has been declining as nicely. From 2015 to 2021, he racked up 81 Defensive Runs Saved, second solely to the now-retired Andrelton Simmons at shortstop. His 102 Outs Above Common in that time-frame tied Francisco Lindor for one of the best in baseball, although Ahmed collected that complete in far fewer innings than Lindor.
However DRS has him nearer to league common over the previous three years, with a complete of -1 right here in 2024. OAA nonetheless likes him fairly a bit, with a tally of +4 this season, however that’s nonetheless a drop from his earlier ranges.
Given these traits, the Giants determined to maneuver on. Luciano and Schmitt nonetheless engaged on issues in Triple-A however the membership is rolling with Brett Properly and Tyler Fitzgerald at shortstop for now. Ahmed has greater than sufficient service time to reject an outright task whereas retaining his wage, which the Related Press lists as $1.5MM, a bit north of this yr’s $740K league minimal. The Giants disregarded that formality by releasing Ahmed.
The Giants will now stay on the hook for that wage whereas any membership might signal Ahmed and solely should pay him the prorated model of that league minimal for any time spent on the roster, with that quantity subtracted from what the Giants pay. His declining outcomes will possible restrict him to minor league offers however he’s nonetheless a reasonably succesful defender and golf equipment just like the Dodgers, Tigers, Braves, Guardians and Pink Sox have some uncertainty at shortstop.
