The Giants added a veteran shortstop who has spent his entire career in the NL West and routinely competed for Gold Glove Awards a few years back. But not the one they're most familiar with.
Former Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed joined camp on Monday as a non-roster invitee on a minor league contract, adding a proven glove to a position group that has been extremely young over the first couple weeks of camp.
Ahmed, 33, is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and the man who ended Brandon Crawford's run of three straight when he won the award in 2018.
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The Giants plan to give Marco Luciano the starting job, but they haven't had any experienced insurance behind him and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has talked often of adding additional shortstops.
Early on, Luciano has alternated reps with Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald, both of whom debuted last season, like Luciano. Otto Lopez was brought in early in camp and is the only Giant to homer through two games, but he has just nine games of MLB experience.
Ahmed played 10 seasons for the Diamondbacks, winning back-to-back Gold Gloves in 2018 and 2019 and hitting 19 homers the latter year. He has always been a glove-first player, and last season his OPS dropped to .560.
The Diamondbacks gave the shortstop job to Geraldo Perdomo, and with top prospect Jordan Lawler also emerging, Ahmed was released in September.
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The Giants tried to trade for shortstop help in the offseason but didn't find a match. It was a rough market for teams looking for a middle infielder, and in recent days they were connected to Kiké Hernandez, a lesser defender but more of a threat against left-handed pitching.
Ahmed brings the veteran depth they have been looking for, although the focus is still on getting Luciano ready for his first Opening Day.
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