5 shortstops the Cardinals should sign as depth behind Masyn Winn and Tommy Edman

Nick Ahmed

According to a report from Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is very interested in seeing the Cardinals bring in his former Arizona teammate, Nick Ahmed.

You may be familiar with Ahmed, a glove-first shortstop who won back-to-back Glove Gloves in 2018 and 2019. While he's an exceptional defender, he's never been known for his bat, with a career slash line of .234/.288/.376 to show for it.

The Cardinals do not need a bat-first shortstop to provide depth for them. Saggese or Donovan can fill those kind of roles. What Ahmed does for them is provide them with a less flashy and lower upside version of what Winn would have done for them this year.

If they sign Ahmed like Goldschmidt wants them to, he would bat ninth in the lineup any time he plays (like Winn), and provide them with top-end defense (like they hope Winn will), but he would lack the speed Winn provides or the potential to take major steps forward offensively.

That's okay though. Most club's third or fourth-best shortstop option is not going to be able to provide both top-end defense and exciting offense as well. If they did both, they'd be a starting shortstop for a club already.

Ahmed would provide the Cardinals with a stable floor while they navigate any prolonged stretches without Winn or Edman, and unless a disaster happened and both were missing significant time, he would not play all that often.