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Arizona Diamondbacks Open to Trading Nick Ahmed

By Andrew Schmid

Jun 21, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed (13) throws a ball to first base for an out during the fifth inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Arizona Diamondbacks won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sport
Jun 21, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed (13) throws a ball to first base for an out during the fifth inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Arizona Diamondbacks won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sport /
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The Arizona Diamondbacks could be looking to trade shortstop Nick Ahmed.

New reports suggest that the Arizona Diamondbacks could be looking to move shortstop Nick Ahmed. Nick Piecoro of AZ Central writes that not only is Nick Ahmed looking less likely to win the starting job, but the D’backs are willing to take trade offers.

As things currently stand, Nick Ahmed is in the midst of a competition with Chris Owings for the job. Through an admittedly small sample size of the current spring training session, Owings has certainly looked better than Ahmed. Piecoro notes that sources would agree with that statement, and Ahmed is likely to lose out on the job.

On the bright side, Ahmed has looked healthy so far after missing a good bit of last season with a hip injury. He only managed to appear in 90 games, and his work did not exactly impress during that time. A traditionally defense-first player, his offense was truly horrendous. The shortstop batted just .218 with few walks of which to speak. He also failed to hit for power, and base running was essentially a wash. These figures seem to be consistent with the 27-year-old’s career norms.

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Given that he brings relatively no value to the table when batting, his defense is realistically the only thing keeping him in the major leagues. Despite his relatively short amount of time in the big leagues last year, he amassed an impressive 13 defensive runs saved and an ultimate zone rating of 8.6. More impressively, these figures on a per inning basis were even higher in 2015.

Clearly, he is an elite shortstop with batting issues, and these players do have their value. If the Diamondbacks are indeed open to trading him, they could probably find a suitor. How much value he would bring in return, however, remains to be seen.

One potential motivation to trade the youngster is that the Arizona Diamondbacks have a very weak farm system. Our own Benjamin Chase ranked their system as the second-worst in baseball this past off-season, noting in particular that they have no elite prospects. He does, however, remark that they have several players who could be regular players, but most of the system profiles as fringe players.

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By trading away a young, elite fielder in Nick Ahmed, the Diamondbacks could conceivably get a piece or two for their farm system. They might need to look for a high-risk, high-ceiling type of player, but anything would help at this point.

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