Minnesota Twins sign SS Andrelton Simmons to upgrade infield

The Minnesota Twins have signed shortstop Andrelton Simmons, and their infield is instantly better

The Minnesota Twins were rumored to be in the market for a shortstop, and now they’ve got one. Amid a run of signings around baseball on Tuesday, Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the Twins have signed Andrelton Simmons to a one-year, $10.5 million deal.

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan

Shortstop Andrelton Simmons and the Minnesota Twins are in agreement on a one-year, $10.5 million contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.

In 30 games for the Angels last year, with missed time due to a lingering ankle injury and then a late opt-out, Simmons posted a .297/.346/.356 slash-line with 10 RBI. He’s a four-time Gold Glover, and his most recent two Gold Glove campaigns (2017, 2018) were also his best two offensive seasons.

Simmons’ defense dropped off last season (-2 Defensive Runs Saved), but he’s an elite defender until he shows otherwise in a normal season.

Sports Info Solutions - Baseball @sis_baseball

Most Defensive Runs Saved - Since 2011 Andrelton Simmons 191 Kevin Kiermaier 135 Most Defensive Runs Saved by Shortstop - Since 2017 Andrelton Simmons 73 Nick Ahmed 55

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan

Shortstop Andrelton Simmons and the Minnesota Twins are in agreement on a one-year, $10.5 million contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.

With Simmons coming in to play short, Jorge Polanco will shift to second base and Luis Arraez will shift into a utility role for the Twins.

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan

Andrelton Simmons will be the Twins' starting shortstop, with Jorge Polanco moving to second base and Luis Arraez still expected to get plenty of at-bats in a super-utility role. But Simmons and Byron Buxton up the middle? Twins pitchers should enjoy that defense this season.

Phil Mackey @PhilMackey

@fangraphs Jorge Polanco is a -34 over that stretch, by the way. 0 is average for Defensive Runs Saved, which means the gap between Simmons (+191) and Polanco (-34) *defensively alone* is 225 runs since 2014. Think about that.

To put it mildly, Polanco is a bad defensive shortstop. And compared to Simmons, the difference in offensive production is not much.

Polanco, 2016-2020: .278/.334/.434 slash-line (.768 OPS), 105 OPS+
Simmons, 2016-2020: .281/.328/.394 slash-line (.722 OPS), 96 OPS+

Now, remove Polanco’s late 2017 stretch (.931 OPS from Aug. 2 on, after which he was suspended the first 80 games of 2018 for PED use), and his breakout 2019 campaign (.295/.396/.485-.841 OPS, 22 HR, 79 RBI, 121 OPS+). I didn’t do to the number-crunching, but I’m guessing Simmons looks a lot better. 2019 is Polanco’s only season with more than 1.5 bWAR. Simmons has posted at least 1.9 bWAR every season in the viable parallel sample with Polanco (2016-2020), and every season of his career, except last year-with 4.4, 7.8 and 6.3 bWAR in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

If Josh Donaldson can stay healthy and play third base, he’ll pair with Simmons to give the Twins a strong left side of the infield. Simmons has his critics as an offensive player, and if his defense doesn’t rebound the primary driver of his value is gone. But a one-year deal is fine. The Twins are a better team than they were yesterday, and they may not be done.

danhayesmlb @DanHayesMLB

About an hour before Andrelton Simmons signed with the #MNTwins, one source suggested they’d pivot to Simmons after missing out on Marcus Semien. Same person believes club has two more moves ahead before the offseason is out.