The Minnesota Twins bolstered their infield defense on Tuesday night, reportedly signing shortstop Andrelton Simmons to a one-year deal. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the deal is worth $10.5 million.
Simmons is a 31-year-old that spent the past five seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. While his .696 career OPS doesn’t bring much to the plate, he did hit .297 in 30 games with the Angels last season and has hit double-digit home runs three times in his career (2013, 2017, 2018).
But the Twins are signing Andrelton Simmons because of his defense. Simmons is a four-time Gold Glove Award winner and was second in Major League Baseball, recording 16 outs above average during MLB’s last full season in 2019 per Statcast.
Simmons’ defensive ability will be a huge upgrade over Jorge Polanco who ranked last among all MLB shortstops with -16 outs above average in 2019.
With the addition of Simmons, Passan reports that Polanco will move to second base as Luis Arraez will move into a super-utility role similar to the one Marwin Gonzalez has played for the next two seasons.
Simmons’ agreement comes hours after the Twins lost out on fellow free agent Marcus Semien, who signed a one-year, $18 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
With their starting shortstop figured out, the Twins will now turn their attention to adding to the starting rotation and re-signing designated hitter Nelson Cruz.
