Current San Francisco Giants and former Arizona Diamondbacks star Nick Ahmed did an interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today and talked about how the partnership between himself and his former team ended very suddenly. Even though he was with the club for more than 10 years, since 2011, he was designated for assignment and was no longer wanted from the team during this past season on September 6.
“It hurt, it was really hard,” Ahmed said to Nightengale. “You give 10 years of your life to an organization. I was there longer than anyone besides the clubhouse guys and training staff. You build relationships with guys, you helped build something, you helped build the culture, you helped move the direction in the right direction. And then for it to end the way it did was really tough.”
Ahmed described the split that “it just ends in the blink of an eye” and that the decision from the Diamondbacks to designate him for assignment made him say that “I was blindsided.” However, there is accountability from Ahmed as he said he knows he was not playing up to his standards, but stressed that “there was no prior communication.”
“I mean, I knew I wasn’t playing well,” Ahmed said. “I’ll take ownership of that. But there was no prior communication. Nothing.”
Ahmed couldn't watch Diamondbacks playoff run
While that will hurt for any player that has been with the same team for more than a decade, there was two situations that made the move even more harder. At the time of Ahmed meeting with Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo, his family was on the way to see him in Chicago when Arizona was facing the Cubs.
He had to tell them the unfortunate news which prompted himself and his family to go back to their home in Arizona. The other situation was despite all the lows the Diamondbacks went through with Ahmed on the lineup, he couldn't witness the exceptional run the team had in the postseason up until their appearance in the World Series which he “couldn't watch.”
“I couldn’t watch, I just couldn’t do it,” Ahmed said. “I was just trying to distance myself with it. You build a bond and a relationship with a lot of people, but there’s hard feelings obviously towards the organization how things ended. I’m happy for the players and the coaches that they could experience that, but now I’m going to be playing against them this year. It’s going to be interesting.”
Ahmed looking for fresh start with San Francisco
There is no doubt that there is a ton of heartache for Ahmed and how his time with Arizona ended, but he is now with the Giants looking to compete to be the starting shortstop for them. He even mentioned that reason what was “attracted” him to come to San Francisco in the first place.
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