D-Backs prove they’re out to win
In sports, the word “culture” is tossed around these days more than a baseball during infield practice.
Decision makers remind us so frequently of the importance of creating, nurturing and maintaining a positive culture in locker rooms and clubhouses that their voices end up buzzing in our ears like tinnitus.
But culture is real thing, particularly in baseball where the clubhouse inhabitants are together almost daily from mid-February through September.
It’s part of what makes the Diamondbacks’ signing shortstop Nick Ahmed to
a four-year contract this week a wise decision, one that should give the team’s fans additional confidence in General Manager Mike Hazen and his staff.
Over the past four years, no Diamondback has worked harder than Ahmed. Already an elite fielder, Ahmed made himself into a competent hitter and is coming off his best year at the plate. To let him become a free agent after the upcoming season without making a strong effort to re-sign him would have been malfeasance.
It also would have sent a terrible message to other players: work hard for us and someone else will reward you for it.
“I don’t think there’s anybody more dedicated to getting the most out of their ability than Nick is,” Hazen said after the deal with Ahmed was announced. “I believe in a clubhouse environment where we’re together for six to seven straight months that that is noticed by his teammates.
“It’s an example that is hard for us to communicate to players -- by us, I mean coaching staff/front office. I think they have to see it and watch it. The dedication, the reps, the prep, the knowledge of the opposing pitcher, his swing, defensively. Go out and watch the difficulty of practice, not just the practice, but the speed and the complexity with which he takes ground balls. Those have all continued to make him an exceptional baseball player and on that we feel like is going to maintain that.”
The elements were in place for the Diamondbacks to make a significant pivot and scrub the clubhouse of familiar faces. They had a large class of players eligible for arbitration a third time including Ahmed, outfield David Peralta, infielder Jake Lamb and pitchers Robbie Ray and Andrew Chafin.
In re-signing Peralta to a three-year deal a few weeks ago, and now Ahmed, Hazen and the Diamondbacks have deftly balanced maintaining a portion of the team’s core while adding significant pieces such as pitcher Madison Bumgarner and outfielder Starling Marte.
“I do think moving forward, having a roster in constant flux year in and year out is not an easy thing to ask the manager and the coaching staff to sort of bring together over 162 games,” Hazen said. “I think having some certainty and continuity is good for our team, for our coaches, for Torey (Manager Torey Lovullo).”
Ahmed did not arrive easily at his decision to delay an initial chance at free agency. Not only was the money decent ($32.5 million over four years), but the Diamondbacks’ moves this off-season also proved to him they were serious about winning.
When he signed in December, Bumgarner said he was attracted to Arizona partly because the Diamondbacks played “my brand of baseball.”
And on Monday, Ahmed said the team’s off-season acquisitions played a big part in his decision to sign through 2023.
It's a perfect example of how culture can help a team both retain and obtain key players.
Management’s responsibility, Hazen said, is to provide “opportunities to win.”
Continuity on the roster is part of that.
“This team can hopefully grow together this year,” Hazen said, “but it will also in large part seem to be together beyond this year.”
Does any of this bring the Diamondbacks closer to competing with the Dodgers? Doubtful, since the Dodgers just acquired Mookie Betts from the Red Sox.
But if you’re not as talented as the team you’re chasing, you better have everything else in place. That includes a harmonious and hard-working group of players.
One way to create and maintain that atmosphere is to reward players like Ahmed, who practiced what you preached.