Diamondbacks: Is a Nick Ahmed trade on the horizon?
By Cody Fincher
This past week, a trade rumor involving the Arizona Diamondbacks has surfaced. Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe has recently reported that the St. Louis Cardinals, who will be without shortstop Jhonny Peralta for around three months, are said to be talking about a certain Diamondbacks middle infielder. His name is Nick Ahmed.
Would the Diamondbacks actually trade Ahmed? Out of the three infielders vying for starting spots up the middle, the other two being Jean Segura and Chris Owings, Ahmed is by far the most defensively gifted. Segura and Owings are no slouches on defense, by any means, but they do provide better offensive capabilities than Ahmed.
Segura has really stood out this spring, as he is 11 for 20, which is a batting average of .550. Owings has been decent, with a batting average of .333, but Ahmed is actually having a good spring so far. Ahmed is hitting .440 with two doubles, three triples, a home run and eight RBI. If Ahmed could find a way to get on base like he’s doing so far in spring training, surely that would be enough to get the nod at shortstop.
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal wrote a piece about this rumor as well. He quotes a team source who told him that the Diamondbacks should start Owings at second and Segura at shortstop.
The source goes on to say that Ahmed is considered to be the worst offensive player out of the three and that he isn’t the best at making adjustments. That statement didn’t get a good reaction from manager Chip Hale, who said that he was bothered by the statement and that Ahmed has been very willing to do whatever the coaches ask of him.
A trade of Ahmed would certainly solve many issues of who should start where in the middle infield. If Ahmed is dealt, then it would seem as though the Diamondbacks would, in fact, start Owings at second base and Segura at shortstop. Do not forget about Brandon Drury, who is also having a great spring training so far. Drury is also still in the hunt for the starting job at either second or third base.
The only way that this trade happens is if the Diamondbacks get something of worth back. They aren’t just going to give Ahmed, or anyone else, away for nothing. Depth is something that the front office very much cherishes, despite the recent trades of some prospects.
In Cafardo’s piece, he says that the Cardinals are only in the beginning stages of looking for a replacement for Peralta. So nothing is anywhere near being set in stone. We’ll see if that replacement is indeed Nick Ahmed.