Whew. Andrelton Simmons signed by Cubs.

[John Bonnes]

Bullet dodged. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/cubs-to-sign-andrelton-simmons.html

[cHawk]

26 minutes ago, John Bonnes said:

Bullet dodged.

[shortround81]

Praise Jeebus

[LA Vikes Fan]

Hey, we got to have somebody. Don't think it's Polanco. Jose Iglesias, come on down! Actually, part of me wants the Twins to start Martin and Gordon at short and see if one of the can handle the position. Given the state of the rotation, it's not like we going anywhere this year any way, might as well see if one of those two can play there SS. Probably not a good idea, but I am intrigued by the possibility. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Part of me feels relief, but part of me also feels bad for Cubs fans. At least they have low expectations.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Correa, Story, Iglesias, and Villar are the remaining FA shortstops.

[baul0010]

1 hour ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

Correa, Story, Iglesias, and Villar are the remaining FA shortstops.

You can narrow that list down to Iglesias and Villar.  The Twins may say they checked in with Correa and Story, but they won't be Twins.

[Linus]

Yea so when not signing someone is the best thing you can say about the off season something is wrong. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

4 hours ago, John Bonnes said:

Bullet dodged. 

[nclahammer]

Not resigning Simmons is our best free agency move (or non-move?) to date.

[Original_JB]

So of course, he will go on to bat .260 and have like 5 errors all season, and be touted as the clubhouse glue that brought the team together.

[miracleb]

Give me Palacios.  he can hit the same as Andrelton and "similar" defense?

[TheLeviathan]

It's just like making a trade!  

But the other kind....the kind where you dump your garbage on someone else.

[Original_JB]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that outside of the Twins going with Nick Gordon (since he is very inexpensive), Simmons provides more WAR/$ for the Cubs than whoever else the Twins pick up or plug in at SS.

[Doctor Gast]

Simmons before he got covid was hitting around .284, compaired to Arraez's .255. He sat out 2020 because of depression, probably covid related. Knowing this the fans still rode him hard because of his stance. Following this, we see his downward spiral. At the end of the season he recovered some and hit his .265 avg.. He became the scapegoat for the 2021 season, yet his slick fielding and savvy kept us in games that were later lost by the BP, most of the SPs and or Cave & CO..

Most people put the blame on Simmons but I put the blame on heartless, irrational fans. It's a shame that these fans has put Simmons in this situation and we have lost the opportunity for him to be a great mentor to our up coming prospects and enjoy his talents. Cub's gain is our loss, wish him very well there!

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

It's just like making a trade!  

But the other kind....the kind where you dump your garbage on someone else.

<---- MInneapolis                   Chicago ----->

[Richie the Rally Goat]

[RpR]

On 3/12/2022 at 10:17 AM, Doctor Gast said:

 

Most people put the blame on Simmons but I put the blame on heartless, irrational fans. It's a shame that these fans has put Simmons in this situation and we have lost the opportunity for him to be a great mentor to our up coming prospects and enjoy his talents. Cub's gain is our loss, wish him very well there!

Yes, but we got a SS who is above average talent in a trade -- NO WAIT -- the Twins dumped him for two sub-average players; the haters ? will try to brag up the derelicts they now have but as the old saying goes: Good luck Charlie.?

[bean5302]

On 3/12/2022 at 10:17 AM, Doctor Gast said:

Simmons before he got covid was hitting around .284, compaired to Arraez's .255. He sat out 2020 because of depression, probably covid related. Knowing this the fans still rode him hard because of his stance. Following this, we see his downward spiral. At the end of the season he recovered some and hit his .265 avg.. He became the scapegoat for the 2021 season, yet his slick fielding and savvy kept us in games that were later lost by the BP, most of the SPs and or Cave & CO..

Most people put the blame on Simmons but I put the blame on heartless, irrational fans. It's a shame that these fans has put Simmons in this situation and we have lost the opportunity for him to be a great mentor to our up coming prospects and enjoy his talents. Cub's gain is our loss, wish him very well there!

I have nothing against Simmons personally. I think his stance on vaccination was irresponsible and poorly informed as was his public stance on the matter. It's not like it makes him a bad person; however, it did make him a bad team mate and he embarrassed the Twins' franchise.

Simmons did not sit out 2020. He played for the Angels in 30 games. Aside from that, Simmons' career bat is well below average at a wRC+ of 87 and his median performance is similar. From a defensive standpoint, he was below MLB average with a UZR/150 of -1.1 last year because of a higher than average error rate and, probably, poor range. This makes sense considering Simmons' trend downward in defensive prowess. His UZR/150 has declined pretty quickly as he approached and passed age 30 with marked decreases in sprint speed and steady increases in the amount of time it took to get from home to first base (which was below average across his entire career for shortstop to begin with).

Simmons' advanced metrics also showed he made poor contact when he did connect and he ranked pretty much dead last in MLB in exit velocity and barrel rate among other things. He wasn't unlucky. His expected statistics were right in line with his actual production. There wasn't a single pitch type where Simmons produced positive value and he was abysmal vs. sinkers, sliders and even 4 seam fastballs. He struggled against changeups and curveballs, too. It was an across the board disaster in performance and when you're playing poorly while simultaneously taking a public issue on an extremely hot topic, the fans are not going to be kind.

[tony&rodney]

14 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I have nothing against Simmons personally. I think his stance on vaccination was irresponsible and poorly informed as was his public stance on the matter. It's not like it makes him a bad person; however, it did make him a bad team mate and he embarrassed the Twins' franchise.

Simmons did not sit out 2020. He played for the Angels in 30 games. Aside from that, Simmons' career bat is well below average at a wRC+ of 87 and his median performance is similar. From a defensive standpoint, he was below MLB average with a UZR/150 of -1.1 last year because of a higher than average error rate and, probably, poor range. This makes sense considering Simmons' trend downward in defensive prowess. His UZR/150 has declined pretty quickly as he approached and passed age 30 with marked decreases in sprint speed and steady increases in the amount of time it took to get from home to first base (which was below average across his entire career for shortstop to begin with).

Simmons' advanced metrics also showed he made poor contact when he did connect and he ranked pretty much dead last in MLB in exit velocity and barrel rate among other things. He wasn't unlucky. His expected statistics were right in line with his actual production. There wasn't a single pitch type where Simmons produced positive value and he was abysmal vs. sinkers, sliders and even 4 seam fastballs. He struggled against changeups and curveballs, too. It was an across the board disaster in performance and when you're playing poorly while simultaneously taking a public issue on an extremely hot topic, the fans are not going to be kind.

All of this is why the Angels cut ties with Simmons. He may surface as a late inning substitute, at best.

[Rosterman]

Hey, the Twins could still trade for a pitcher with the A's with Elvis Andrus as a throw-in, I bet!

[Doctor Gast]

23 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I have nothing against Simmons personally. I think his stance on vaccination was irresponsible and poorly informed as was his public stance on the matter. It's not like it makes him a bad person; however, it did make him a bad team mate and he embarrassed the Twins' franchise.

Simmons did not sit out 2020. He played for the Angels in 30 games. Aside from that, Simmons' career bat is well below average at a wRC+ of 87 and his median performance is similar. From a defensive standpoint, he was below MLB average with a UZR/150 of -1.1 last year because of a higher than average error rate and, probably, poor range. This makes sense considering Simmons' trend downward in defensive prowess. His UZR/150 has declined pretty quickly as he approached and passed age 30 with marked decreases in sprint speed and steady increases in the amount of time it took to get from home to first base (which was below average across his entire career for shortstop to begin with).

Simmons' advanced metrics also showed he made poor contact when he did connect and he ranked pretty much dead last in MLB in exit velocity and barrel rate among other things. He wasn't unlucky. His expected statistics were right in line with his actual production. There wasn't a single pitch type where Simmons produced positive value and he was abysmal vs. sinkers, sliders and even 4 seam fastballs. He struggled against changeups and curveballs, too. It was an across the board disaster in performance and when you're playing poorly while simultaneously taking a public issue on an extremely hot topic, the fans are not going to be kind.

Thank you Mr. Bean for that correction. I was wrong about the amount of time, he only removed himself the last week with the Angels, .  

[Michael (ClassicMNTwins)]

On 3/12/2022 at 10:17 AM, Doctor Gast said:

Simmons before he got covid was hitting around .284, compaired to Arraez's .255. He sat out 2020 because of depression, probably covid related. Knowing this the fans still rode him hard because of his stance. Following this, we see his downward spiral. At the end of the season he recovered some and hit his .265 avg.. He became the scapegoat for the 2021 season, yet his slick fielding and savvy kept us in games that were later lost by the BP, most of the SPs and or Cave & CO..

Most people put the blame on Simmons but I put the blame on heartless, irrational fans. It's a shame that these fans has put Simmons in this situation and we have lost the opportunity for him to be a great mentor to our up coming prospects and enjoy his talents. Cub's gain is our loss, wish him very well there!

To stand up and have your own opinions about your own health decisions and buck the mainstream has become unpopular in our society, and it was disgusting to watch the degree to which people subjected Simmons to abuse, very much so because of the stand he took. Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with these comments. No matter how right you think you are, and how wrong you thought he was, using ugly language to knock someone else down paints you as a Twins fan in an ugly light. I hope we never have to witness that again.