12-year MLB veteran Nick Ahmed has announced his retirement from baseball. Ahmed made the announcement on social media earlier today. A two-time Gold Glove award winner, Ahmed played for the Diamondbacks, Giants, Dodgers, Padres, and Rangers during his time in the majors.
“For as long as I can remember, all I ever wanted to do was play baseball,” Ahmed said in his announcement. “I got to live out my childhood dream and play baseball for a very long time! After 15 professional seasons and more than a decade in the big leagues I am officially hanging up my spikes and retiring from playing baseball… I will always love the game of baseball. I am excited for my next chapter and the opportunity to give the best of me to this game we all love!”
The 35-year-old was a second-round pick by Atlanta back in 2011 out of the University of Connecticut. He was traded to Arizona as part of a package that brought back outfielder Justin Upton and infielder Chris Johnson prior to the 2013 season and made his big league debut with the Diamondbacks the following year. He made it into just 25 games that year, but in 2015 he took over for Didi Gregorius as the team’s regular shortstop. Ahmed’s .226/.275/.359 slash line (66 wRC+) in that rookie season wasn’t much to write home about, but he was a standout defender from the jump with +8 Defensive Runs Saved in his rookie season.
Injuries limited Ahmed to just 143 games across the 2016 and ’17 seasons, but he re-emerged in 2018 healthy enough to return to play on a regular basis. That age-28 season saw Ahmed reach his peak. His .234/.290/.411 (85 wRC+) slash line was still below average, but it was nonetheless a marked improvement over previous seasons. More impressive, however, was his growth defensively. Ahmed put up a defensive season for the ages in 2018, with an eye-popping +34 Outs Above Average and +25 Defensive Runs Saved. His glove was by far the most valuable of anyone in baseball that year—not just among shortstops, but at any position. Ahmed followed that brilliant performance up with one that was as good or better in 2019.
While his +17 OAA and +14 DRS weren’t quite as otherworldly as the prior season, they were still elite figures. This time, Ahmed’s strong defense was backed up by roughly league average offense, has he posted a 91 wRC+ and crushed a career-high 19 homers. Ahmed’s strong play continued into the shortened 2020 season, when he posted a 96 wRC+ with his typical excellent defense. From 2018-2020, Ahmed’s 8.9 fWAR was ninth-best among all shortstops and clocked in ahead of players like Carlos Correa and fellow defensive wizard Andrelton Simmons.
Unfortunately for Ahmed, his offense would come crashing back to Earth in 2021, when he posted a 66 wRC+. While his defense remained elite, injuries in 2022 limited him to just 17 games. His offense fell even further in 2023, and come September his defensive value just wasn’t enough to justify his roster spot as the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment to make room for top prospect Jordan Lawlar on the roster and dedicate more playing time to shortstop of the future Geraldo Perdomo. Ahmed split the 2024 season between the Giants, Dodgers, and Padres and appeared in 71 games as a bench piece and injury replacement for his three longtime division rivals before wrapping up his career with a five-game stint as a member of the Rangers this year.
All together, Ahmed appeared in 964 games during his big league career with a .233/.286/.370 slash line. He collected +118 OAA since Statcast began tracking the stat in 2016, a figure that trails on Francisco Lindor across the stat’s history. He also finished his career with +80 DRS, good for 11th overall and second among shortstops since Ahmed made his debut during the 2014 season. MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball world in congratulating Ahmed on a fine career and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.