The Minnesota Twins desperately need help on both sides of the baseball right now and re-inserting Andrelton Simmons back at shortstop will surely help. Simba has been activated off of the COVID-19 list and will bat 8th tonight vs the Cleveland Indians. In return, Nick Gordon has been sent back down to AAA St. Paul. Gordon was up with the big club for three games but never saw the field or batters box while there.

Nick Gordon was optioned back to the team’s alternate site. #MNTwins

— danhayesmlb (@DanHayesMLB) April 26, 2021

Twins at Cleveland: pic.twitter.com/J68uxlNJGw

— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) April 26, 2021

He’s obviously known for his legendary glove but before Andrelton Simmons was taken out of the lineup, he was also swinging at a career-best level. Through 11 games, he was holding .355 batting average and .925 OPS and when he last graced the lineup on April 13, the Minnesota Twins were 5-5 and just on the start of what has turned into an epic April downfall.

Hopefully, he can help ignite an even more epic May turnaround.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Twins made their first splash move of the 2021 offseason on Tuesday when they signed shortstop Andrelton Simmons to a 1-year, $10.5 million contract.

Simmons is knows for his historically good defense, winning FOUR gold gloves and ranking near the top of defensive WAR metrics that go beyond my time. Still, he hasn’t been the same guy for the last two seasons and ankle injuries have been to blame, specifically his left ankle.

In 2019, Simmons played just 103 games (102 at shortstop and one at DH) because of his bum left ankle and 2020 was even worse, competing in only 30 of the Angels’ 60 games and opting out of the season with 5 contests still on the schedule.

Injured more than healthy

Andrelton Simmons missed 90 games during the 2019-2020 seasons combined and he played through his left ankle injuries for 83 of the games he did play in. So, that’s a total of 173 games over the last two seasons where Simmons either sat out or played through his ankle injuries, meaning he played just 49 games while fully healthy.

His injuries have shown themselves on the field and in the box scores. For example, Simmons started 2019 posting some of the best numbers in his career. But on game 47 (May 20) vs the Minnesota Twins, Simba lunged to beat out a close play at 1st base and that’s where everything changed (see video and table below).

He sat for over a month after this play and his offensive production fell off a cliff when he returned over a month later for (game 82 – June 27 vs the Oakland A’s).

Now, here’s what happened with Andrelton Simmons. pic.twitter.com/kVhjwEKjYi

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 21, 2019

Below-average defender in 2020

But even when Andrelton Simmons struggled from the plate to finish 2019, his defense was mostly there. The defensive metrics show some drop-offs, but nothing that would be overly concerning.

2020 however, was the opposite. Simmons hurt his left ankle again, this time in game 5 of 60. He would sit out for just short of one month, missing 23 games in that span. He returned, however, as a better hitter and posted numbers all above his career average (.297 BA, .356 SLG, .702 OPS, 95 OPS+)… but crashed back to earth defensively.

All of the 2020 numbers you see in the chart above are below the league average. We’re talking about a guy who won gold gloves with his defensive numbers in 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018 (and should have in 2015 and 2016 if you go by the numbers above).

Whatever was holding Simmons back on defense in 2020 caused him to opt-out of the season before it was over and now he’s coming over to play with the Twins.

If healthy, the Twins got a steal

If healthy, which we’ve all been lead to believe he is, Andrelton Simmons will be an asset for the Minnesota Twins, both in the field and at the plate.

His defense has spoken for itself throughout his entire career and his hitting has improved with age. But if Andrelton Simmons were to tweak that ankle again, I worry we could be in for a Josh Donaldson 2020 season all over again.

Given the injury and depth concerns already on this roster… that could be a problem.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Well, we were all waiting for something to happen and many even worried nothing would, after Marcus Semien was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this afternoon. But alas, the Minnesota Twins have finally made their move at shortstop, signing 4X Gold Glove winner, Andrelton Simmons.

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.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2021

Simmons is a plus offensive player and probably the best defensive shortstop in baseball. This is a great signing for the Twins and I love the defensive side of it, given how bad Minnesota was in that department last season.

I thought the additional information, regarding Polanco’s move to 2nd base, was interesting. I can’t imagine they want to keep Arraez’ bat out of the lineup for very many games. It seems even less likely, at this point, that Nelson Cruz comes back. Instead, I expect Minnesota to rely on a bevy of good sticks already on the roster.

One-year deal

It shouldn’t surprise you that Simmons only signed for one year. The Twins hope to have their shortstop of the future, Royce Lewis, ready for the 2022 season and Simmons will want to make more money in next year’s free agency class, when there are less unknowns and more owners willing to spend.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan