Padres Sign Ex-Dodgers Shortstop To Minor League Contract

Nick Ahmed’s tour of the National League West continues in San Diego as the former Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop signed a minor league contract Sunday with the Padres.

The Padres became the fourth NL West organization to employ the former Gold Glove infielder in the past two years. Last year, Arizona released Ahmed with three weeks remaining in the season after he played in 888 games for the Diamondbacks from 2014-23.

Ahmed signed with his second NL West squad, San Francisco, before this season. He was released on July 10 after batting a .232/.278/.303 slash line with one home run in 172 plate appearances.

The third team, the Dodgers, pounced on Ahmed when Miguel Rojas joined Mookie Betts on the injured list. His firt big moment with Los Angeles came against the Giants, when he hit a home run.

Ahmed ended up starting 14 games at shortstop before Rojas and Betts came back, only to be designated for assignment Aug. 19. He posted a line of .229/.245/.292 over 49 plate appearances.

For the season, combining his stints in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Ahmed has a .232/.271/.300 slash line across 221 plate appearances.

Ahmed has always been known as a defense-first infielder. That’s what earned him the starting job in San Francisco to begin this season.

Signing with San Diego keeps Ahmed in California and with another team that is missing its starting shortstop. Ha-Seong Kim has been on the IL since Aug. 19 with shoulder inflammation, and manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com and other reporters that Kim hasn’t yet been cleared to throw across the diamond.

The Padres have turned to Tyler Wade and Mason McCoy in Kim’s absence. Signing Ahmed gives the team some insurance if either of the others don’t pan out.

On a positive note for Ahmed, he is eligible to play for San Diego in the postseason because he signed before Sept. 1.

Chosen by the Atlanta Braves in the second round of the 2011 MLB Draft from UConn, Ahmed was traded to Arizona and went on to become the first player in franchise history to spend 10 seasons with the team.

It was during his tenure with Arizona that he snagged his two Gold Gloves in 2018 and 2019. His peak offensive performance came in 2019, when he posted career highs with a slash line of .254/.316/.437/.753, including 19 home runs and 82 RBIs.

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

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