The Dodgers are signing shortstop Nick Ahmed to a big league deal and placing Miguel Rojas on the injured list, tweets Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic. David Vassegh of 570 Sports first noted (on X) that Ahmed was with the team. The veteran infielder is an Excel Sports Management client.
Ahmed continues his tour of the National League West. The longtime Diamondback signed a minor league deal with the Giants over the winter. He made the Opening Day roster and appeared in 52 games with San Francisco. Ahmed struggled to a .232/.278/.303 batting line over 172 trips to the plate and was released two weeks ago. He lingered on the open market before landing an immediate big league opportunity because of the Dodgers’ injury situation in the middle infield. Ahmed will only make the prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary for whatever time he spends on the L.A. roster. The Giants are still on the hook for the rest of his salary.
Los Angeles has been without Mookie Betts for more than five weeks. Betts was amidst another MVP-caliber season in his first year as an everyday shortstop before he broke his hand on a hit-by-pitch. That pushed Rojas from a glove-first utility role back into regular work at shortstop. He hasn’t provided much offensively, hitting .241/.282/.329 across 86 trips to the plate since the Betts injury. The Dodgers were mostly hoping he’d keep things afloat on defense, and Rojas has indeed posted above-average marks with the glove.
The Dodgers will rely on Ahmed to play a similar role. Rojas went down over the weekend with forearm tightness and hasn’t played since Sunday. Los Angeles was using Enrique Hernández as their fill-in shortstop, but he’s better suited for work at second or third base and around the outfield. While the Dodgers won’t expect much at the plate from Ahmed, he’s a two-time Gold Glove winner who remains a solid or better defensive shortstop.
Ahmed figures to play everyday until Rojas or Betts comes back. He starts tonight against his old Giants teammates and will take on Robbie Ray in the lefty’s season debut, tweets Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The Dodgers could theoretically look for middle infield help before next Tuesday’s deadline, although that hasn’t seemed to be a priority thus far. Betts is expected back sometime next month and should take shortstop back over headed into the postseason. The Dodgers seem more concerned with landing impact talent who could aid them in October rather than expending prospect capital for lower-ceiling players to bridge the gap in the regular season.
The Dodgers have a full 40-man roster, but they’re reportedly going to designate right-hander Ricky Vanasco for assignment. That was expected to be the corresponding move for Clayton Kershaw returning from the 60-day injured list tomorrow. The Dodgers could DFA Vanasco today and clear space for Kershaw tomorrow. Righty Kyle Hurt is undergoing Tommy John surgery and could be transferred to the 60-day injured list if the Dodgers don’t want to expose anyone to waivers.
Bro is doing an NL West tour
He’s still got an excellent glove. Even had some timey hits for the Giants. Now watch him toast the San Franciscans.
Dodger killer when he was a Dback
He was a Giants’ killer as well, not really good numbers, but he seemed to deliver in crucial situations. I was happy when the Giants signed him, but his skills have eroded, especially with the glove. Gone are the days like 2018, when he had 28 DRS, and 35 OAA. This season those numbers are -1 DRS and 4 OAA, and he never was a great hitter. Maybe he’ll do better in LA than he did in SF.
He seems to be on the cusp of reaching the 10 year full pension.
It’s funny to me how some fans pay attention to this or happen to be aware of this.
I know. It’s just out of all the things I try to keep in my head about any one ballplayer, how close that player is to getting his full pension would not be high priority.
Doesn’t seem like a real job. Does it?
Might be his last rodeo.
Hypothetically, what would the Dodgers give the Mets for Iglesias and would the Mets want to move him?
hypothetically, James Paxton
Why in the world would the Mets move Iglesias?
Not a good sign. The injury to Rojas was supposed to be minor. Now it’s looking like something more serious.
This team is so clueless. Also, brace yourselves for hearing lots this week about their grossly overrated prospects…
Literally praised by all insiders as one of the smartest and best run franchises from top to bottom. Their player development has a decade of successes. You can hate them all day, but lead with something smart bro.
A decade of successes? LOL. Yes, all these “insiders” have a vested interest in keeping LAD hyped and in the press. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
LAD’s record speaks for itself. As do your baseless posts.
A good record with nothing meaningful to show for it. Who cares? Rings matter.
You truly don’t believe I can call out 20 homegrown guys that over achieved their draft pick level or another dozen Justin Turner types that the Dodgers turned into All Stars? Can you throw out any single stat to your trolling?
How many bonafide stars have they developed in the last 3-4 years? Just a lot of middling pitching prospects and overrated position players. They can’t even come close development-wise to a team like Baltimore.
Ok ok, I got it. You’re just dumb. You don’t understand that Baltimore has had the #1 or #2 pick in the draft and LA is picking #30. You do realize how rebuilding teams rebuild right?? Gunnar, Adley and Holliday weren’t exactly tough choices. They get handed to really bad organizations. Thats how the welfare system works. It makes Baltimore good for five years until they trade them and become trash for another 10 years. LOL.
My buddies and I love your posts. I’m going to follow you on other posts. Some of the funniest most uneducated stuff I’ve read. Blahahahahahahaha.
Who cares where they draft? We’re talking about player development, dumdum. LAD always brags about how they can transform anyone into a star…where are these young players? Do some thinking before you respond. Kind of embarrassing.
“My buddies and I” = me alone in my mom’s basement 🙁
Yes, but not based on prospects they’ve developed. They are a well run organization but they also trade those “hyped” prospects (who don’t pan out) or they buy terrific payers such as Betts, Freeman and Ohtani.. Nobody is jumping up and down for the Lux’, Outman’s, Ruiz’ and Verdugo’s.
Dumb argument because contenders use youth as currency to trade which they do every trade deadline. That said, Will Smith is one of the best catchers in baseball. Pages is pretty good. The bulk of the pitching staff are home grown, Kershaw, Buehler, May, Miller, Stone. Let’s talk about people they didn’t resign like Seager and Bellinger. I mean come on man! You’re over your skis.
Right, because Baltimore has all those WS titles to show for their great organization right?
Rings matter but to me not as much as the regular season. Why? Because I watch almost every game and when my team wins, it puts me in a good mood. So I’m grateful to the Dodgers for doing that 100 or more times a year for about a freaking decade.
@taran. Simple and true. Best argument I’ve heard in defense of the Dodgers decade of winning in the regular season.
I think rings mean different things to different people/teams.
As a fan of a team that’s never won a WS ring, and in fact hasn’t had a winning record in most regular seasons, I’d sure like that one ring. But once acquired, I’d want a decade of 100 win seasons even more than that one ring.
taran7, Yeah I agree. It’s all about the enjoyment of baseball. There’s a huge difference between your team being eliminated in Aug./Sept, and your team making it to the PS. Even if they don’t win it all, the excitement of your team in a playoff series’ beats watching some other teams in the playoffs.
And they didn’t have to lose & tank in consecutive 100 loss seasons to do it genius.
No real rings either. Who cares? Enjoy the participation trophies, dumbo.
go find a team to root for
Troll = person who says things I don’t like
Stay ignorant!
Stay biased….
Oh, look who is back. The sad little puppy, neon cop.
Somehow we still have biggio on the team
Tired of him already?
I was hoping they could find something that he does well. He can’t hit and isn’t great on defense. I know he plays 3rd so they’re going to hold onto him, but maybe they cut him when Kershaw comes up tomorrow..
That Dodgers “organization” has totally fallen apart.
Short of breaking the bank to pay the big 3 position players and maybe 3 starters that get injured all the time, that has become a terrible operation.
Andrew Friedman is going down the road that Jerry Dipoto and AJ Preller have been on during their entire careers – below-average Baseball Ops guys that make flamboyant moves. They get their teams pub year-round. Fans (particularly corporate PR ticket holders getting tax write-offs as a business expense) that buy the sizzle not the steak look forward to the season and show up or watch on a media device. They purchase ridiculously overpriced team merchandise. The team investors show a nice profit. If their teams make them, their teams fizzle out in the playoffs. Then their fans immediately buy some new merchandise from their local NFL team and follow that.
Andrew Friedman used to be one of the best Baseball Ops heads in MLB. He – like the Dodgers – has/have been living on his/their past rep for years now.
Van, Blue Jays fans would have been very upset at you 4 months ago if you said that.
The real Jays fans knew this in 2021. You are correct.
I wonder if Ahmed can possibly have an utterly amazing week, and some other SS in the MLB gets injured, if Ahmed would have any trade value for the Dodgers.
Wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he goes 8-8 with 6 RBIs against the Giants over the next 2 games.
I’m sure he could get hot, and go something like 8 for 8, but even if he did, he has zero trade value.
I hear Detroit would trade Baez for a sack of used baseballs, and throw in 10 cases of new ones
Every other team hangs up on that offer. I think the Tigers would need to pay another team to take Baez.
Point of order. Betts didn’t break his hand, the pitcher who threw the ball at it did.
Let the record show, your honor, it was Dan Altavilla of the Royals.
I rest my case.
Since we’re on the non baseball topic of symantics, it was the ball that broke his hand, it wasn’t someone’s intention
hence the term ballbreaker
Objection. The ball could not throw itself. It was in fact thrown by Mr. Altavilla.
sustained
Well my blue friends. I suppose if thee question is who supplied the physical force, then yes I will agree, it was Dan. But that wasn’t a question here? Yet the debate raised by Blue is that Mookie didn’t break his hand. If Mookie didn’t do it, and he probably should be cleared of guilt here, then that alone is not conclusive as to a what, who, or why. I merely proposed an alternative yet I believe equally credible interpretation (albeit in a ridiculous context given the lack of sufficient evidence to support definitive correctness). But I will say, it’s a bummer about Rojas. The acquisition of Ahmed seems to reflect a decision not to pursue MI help at TD, thoughts?
Nope Mookie was responsible for breaking his own hand. He could have opted out of that at-bat. Or, if it hadn’t been for his chosen profession as baseball player, his hand would have remained intact that day. He put himself in the position of getting his hand broken. It’s just a risk of the profession.
Brew88, Intention, or not, is irrelevant. If a samurai warrior swings his sword and decapitates someone, you don’t blame the sword.
@Jean. Alas, blame was never part of the initial Dan v Mookie incident. And intention is irrelvant only if blame is not assigned. But we can agree that Mookie did not break his own hand as some Mariners fans might imply..
To address your analogy, yes, we could say with confidence that the decapitated person did not initiate the action with which they lost thy head. I wonder though if the samurai swung with intent.
Brew’88, You make a good point. It’s safe to assume the samurai warrior swung the sword with, not just intent, but deadly intent at that. A better analogy might be if I, while chopping firewood, accidentally chopped my wife’s finger off. Certainly no intent, but again, one cannot blame the axe. My wife would certainly know who to blame, and it wouldn’t be herself.
Yeah, she’d blame you. Even if she was crowding the chopping block.
Be careful. You cannot say Ahmed will not be missed by his former team. It’s considered toxic and venom. Speak only within the bounds allowed.
This guy sucks and doesn’t deserve to be on a big league team anymore. He was good, not anymore
since when are Giants fans the arbiter of what makes a good major leaguer?
since when are you?
So’s yer old man!
ball bagger: I don’t make pronouncements that include “this guy sucks” or “this guy’s puke.” Ahmed’s a stop gap until Mookie returns, no more, no less.
Get off my lawn!
Don’t defend that comment. Mojo was 100% in the right to ask that question.
he honestly isn’t that bad for a team that can use him as a backup, the giants aren’t that team. if the season started with a hot luciano and ahmed could be used as a bench defensive player he might still be on the team – he just isn’t a starting SS anymore
CBeisbol. We need your feedback and analysis on every comment on this thread.
Otherwise how will people know what they can/can’t say?!
Ahmed is warmed over puke, This is bad for the Dodgers. Paul DeJong would be better.
He’s just a stop-gap until Mookie returns. LA just needs him to play good defense and get a hit once in awhile.
On a side note, he’s somewhat decent against LH pitching.
Mookie is moving back to 2B when he comes back
Are you sure? Lux seems to be turning a corner offensively and is playing steady defense at 2B.
wrong. Mookie will play SS. Lux will be at 2B, barring a middle infield trade which seems unlikely.
I’m good with Rojas & Lux up the middle and Betts in right if they don’t upgrade the outfield. Ideally, they need another outfielder and middle infielder to solidify the lineup….
Betts at SS and Lux at 2B is far superior to Ahmed at SS and Betts at 2B.
CBeisbol, I have to disagree about Ahmed at SS and Betts at 2B. I would agree if we were talking about the Nick Ahmed from a couple years ago, but at this point he is only marginally better than Betts with the glove. But Betts is hugely better with the bat.
If Rojas was available, I’d agree, that him at SS with Betts at 2B is better, but they don’t have Rojas. I think Betts at SS, Lux at 2B is better than anything that includes Ahmed.
Mookie may play 2b occasionally but Lux is not going anywhere.
That’s what they said about 10 days ago
They Live!! Don’t you know CBeisbol’s commandments say thou shall not say puke?!
You are in violation of the rules. You are cancelled.
Get a grip. You can say whatever you like here, but if it’s silly or unfounded, count on being made aware of it.
You will be brought for judgement if you are unfounded based on our findings.
How about say whatever you like without the ‘but’?
CBeisbol
There was a thread 3 days ago where someone said ‘terrible’ and they were not reprimanded for their violation.
Could you go back and update them on their ‘unfounded’ and ‘unacceptable’ behavior.
Otherwise, how will they know what they can say without your commandments?
Expecting that damaged goods Bichette trade when they figure Ahmed isn’t any better with the stick than Kike. No way they throw Mookie back at short. That was a disaster.
wrong
Not a disaster. Betts isn’t a great SS, and maybe not even a very good one. Defensive metrics have him as middling to a little subpar. But what he supplies with the bat far out ways anything he lacks defensively. Ahmed is probably no better with the glove at this point in his career than Betts. But Ahmed doesn’t hit, and never really has.
CBeisbol, This season Betts has 4 DRS and -5 OAA. Ahmed has -1 DRS and 4 OAA. That’s not a huge difference
Considering that the difference in wRC+ is huge, Ahmed at 68, and Betts at 157, the difference in defense does not favor playing Ahmed at SS IMO.
To hell with the defensive metrics. Betts only started working out in the position a couple of weeks before the season started. He’d been drilling on it every day since and before his hand was broken he was starting to look good at it. One of the game’s greatest athletes. Don’t count him out.
Dodgers probably DFA Ahmed after the SF series unless they’re trading him to Seattle.
Ahmed is not getting traded anywhere. He has zero trade value. No team is giving up anything, not even cash, for Ahmed.
Last year Amed (Rosario), this year (Nick) Ahmed. Dodgers have a theme going…
Win or lose i just hope all the players remember to have fun out there.
Would have preferred to see what they have in Sweeney, or even give Lux a short chance to earn the job back. Oh well, in Friedman we trust.
Believe it or not, he has a higher OPS than Kiké does this season. They obviously like the glove until Rojas gets back. This team can afford a lineup hole if he saves runs.
Better at second. Just from the eye test Mookie seemed to be taking errors and what should’ve been called errors into the batters box. MVP, maybe in April and May, but not so much after prior to the broken bone. Up until Rojas and his bum wing Mookie was heading back to 2B and Lux to OKC
Please change his bat angle. He can only hit the low stuff with that 1:00 to 7:00 swing. I could strike him out.
Only thing I remember of Ahmed when he played for the D’Backs was when you needed that clutch hit big letdown. Nothing more than a rally killer, when the high school coach was passing out bats he gave Ahmed a glove.
Sounds like Edman till one year he wasn’t a dud in RISP hitting. I still don’t like him.
As a Giants fan I think this is a good move for the Dodgers. His glove is as advertised and they have enough offense to hide his bat
The Dodgers are obviously a well-run organization, but having an unlimited budget makes it a lot easier.
Large, but not unlimited.
Next stop, San Diego.
Nick Amhed is Player of the Game, 07/24/2024.
If you have 9 men who are the best at their position but all have a balanced OPS of .550, how many games will they win.
I bet not many but I’m too lazy to do the math.