Shortstop Andrelton Simmons and the Minnesota Twins agree on a $ 10.5 million one-year contract, sources familiar with Jeff Passan’s agreement told ESPN.
Four-time Glove Gold Award winner, Simmons has established himself as one of the brightest defensive breaks in baseball history. Since his first full season in 2013, Simmons has easily led the majors with 172 defensive runs saved (third baseman Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies is second with 120).
Simmons will be the twins’ initial shortstop, with Jorge Polanco moving to second base, and Luis Arraez still expecting to get a lot of bats in a super-useful role.
The Los Angeles Angels acquired Simmons in November 2015 – as the first major move by former CEO Billy Eppler – to send short film colleague Erick Aybar and top prospect Sean Newcomb to the Atlanta Braves.
Simmons hit .281 / .328 / .394 in the five seasons with the Angels, making 36 homers, 112 doubles and 15.4 FanGraphs wins over the substitution, the ninth shortest in 2016-2020.
The 31-year-old Simmons was selected by Atlanta in the second round of the 2010 amateur draft and made his major league debut with the Braves in 2012. He is a .269 career player with 67 homers and 406 RBI- in 1060 games with Braves and Angels.
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.