Injured Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons is closing in on a return, manager Joe Maddon said Monday (via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times). Simmons, who landed on the IL on July 28 with a left ankle sprain, has progressed to taking batting practice.
Ankle problems have slowed Simmons since last season, during which the 30-year-old totaled only 103 games played. Simmons’ well-known defensive wizardry continued then, but his offense dropped off a cliff compared to his respectable 2018-19 performance. Still, as Jeff Todd of MLBTR explained, Simmons entered this season as an especially interesting pending free agent. Thanks to the shortened campaign and the time he has already missed, though, Simmons doesn’t have much time to rebuild his stock before a potential trip to the open market.
Since Simmons went down in the first week of the season, the Angels have turned to David Fletcher at short. Fletcher has been highly productive so far, and the Angels surely want his bat in the lineup every day, but he’s versatile enough on the defensive side to move around the diamond. That will give Maddon the freedom to pencil the two in on a daily basis when Simmons is able to return.
He’s not going to resign,
so trade him at the deadline,
do it now while there’s time,
because in November,you won’t get a dime.
You’re right. He’s not gonna quit.
How do you know he wont re-sign?
It’s not like the Cubs, Red Sox, Dodgers or Yankees are going to sign him.
He has to have an offer. The Angels might decide to move on, especially after seeing Fletcher/Rengifo duo for the past couple of weeks. His non-prorated salary for 2020 was $15M, so unless he’s considering much less money to stay, I doubt he is in the team’s plans for 2021+.
@Halo11Fan we don’t know he won’t re-sign. Either way, they should trade him.
Have the Angels seen enough of Fletcher at SS to feel comfortable giving him the job fulltime next season? Few players can match Simmons defensive excellence regardless of position, but Fletcher is rock solid at SS. And Fletcher’s on base skills are perfect batting in front of Trout, Rendon and Ohtani.
Worst case they let him walk and in a year add someone like Correa, seager or lindor. I’d trade simmons easily he is injury prone and not that great with the bat. He is also close to 30 so he won’t age well.
fletcher is great but he lacks range to play short all the time. he’s a perfect fit for 2b and he will someday be an allstar and gold glove winner someday there.
Vizionaire… Nice Response.
Fletcher is an adequate shortstop. Nothing more. He’s a gold glove type second baseman. Not to mention, I don’t like what I see from Rengifo. He’s still young, but I wouldn’t hand him the job. And LaStella can’t play second base. Not that the Angels will resign LaStealla.
This is a better team with Rendon, Simmons and Fletcher manning the infield.
Fletcher is tied for fourth in defensive runs saved for SS and tied for 6th for defensive WAR at SS. That makes him more than “adequate” at shortstop.
And he’s played the position for two weeks. That data is meaningless.
He played a little more last year. Statscast, which measures every batted ball, positioning, velocity, speed of runner…..
He was one out above average. But that data is almost meaningless. Way too small of a sample size, but much more accurate than what you put forth.
You keep making my point how little you know about this game.
He’s played the 17th most defensive innings at shortstop in the majors this season, tell me how that is meaningless LOL. He’s only three full games away from being in the top ten.
Plus, the fact that he’s so high in WAR despite less innings than the other top SS’s indicate how good defensively he is there.
Do you know anything about your own team?
“He’s played the 17th most defensive innings at shortstop. ”
How can anyone not laugh at the stupidity of that comment? The season is 17 games old for the Angels.
Since you are into insignificant sample sizes, why don’t you jump on the Sustainable Hitter Breakout thread and say all those hitters will be better than Mike Trout.
Why don’t you say the Miami Marlins are the best team in the NL East.
Man, you are such a doof.
How is being ranked with the 17th most defensive innings at a position “insignificant”? He’s eligible for the gold glove with the amount of innings he’s played. How much of an idiot are you?
How? Seriously?
Max Stassi is a star. Rendon is a horrid hitter.
Keep digging. But you don’t even know you are.
You must be really short ,because everything flies over your head. We already know you’re dense. M-o-r-o-n.
Anyone who uses such a small sample size to make a point doesn’t know a thing about baseball.
But you know so little about baseball you don’t know that.
“He’s played the 17th most defensive innings at shortstop. ”
We have all these cancellation, but to you it’s a telling state because he’s played the 17th most innings at shortstop.”
I’m still laughing at that one.
Someone who can never back up anything they say with any statistical evidence means they only have uninformed opinions that are not based in reality.
You can say whatever you want, but if the things you say are never actually supported by data or what the player does, then what do you actually know? Nothing, which is what you know.
He’s 17th in innings.. What else needs to be said.
LOL funny.
Only a moron would use that stat. But keep digging.
The season is less than three weeks old. At this point, there is no worthwhile data. Just early-season trends.
So what’s the cutoff for you for a guy to be eligible for defense?
Because it’s based on a variety of batted ball events, and many of those events happen sparingly, most people who study this don’t think an entire 162 game season paints a complete picture.
There is no right answer for “cutoff”. But what everyone knows… and I mean everyone…. is 112 innings isn’t enough data.
Thing is with Fletcher at short the defense at second has been pretty bad. La Stella pretty much single handedly cost the game Friday with his glove.
Simba gives the team 2 elite defenders up the middle.
Fletcher is good at SS. But Simba brings alot to the table with GG defense at short. I’m thinking unless the Angeks go into a complete nosedive. They will keep him and sign him to a 3 year extension. And thus anchor Fletch at 2nd.
i hope so, too!
3 year extension at 13 per
It still amazes me that Simmons put up a 7.8 WAR season in 2017 with just okay offense. Really is a testament to how incredibly valuable he is with the glove. Then followed it up with like a 6.5 in 2018 — really impressive for a guy who only hits around .280 with 10-14 HRs!
WAR is a position relative stat, you’ll find SS is pretty light on the .ISO and OBP
Not to take anything away from Simmons, but being a SS alone boosts his WAR.
Ryan—Would you see the Angels paying Simmons in the neighborhood of his $15M 2020 salary for the next several years? Given he will be Age 31 next season, and expecting to be locked down for several years—with defensive game strong, but still seemingly fragile health and a bat which comes and goes?
My guess is this is his last season with the team, that some other team will pay more/longer for his services. It is the delicate part of letting go one season too soon, rather than one too late.
I think his health determines a lot. Plus, the money they could use for starting pitching. Notice how the Angels still jumped to the AL lead in runs and HR’s with Upton doing nothing and Simmons hurt. And that’s with the middle of their lineup all hitting around .200 and under. Do they really need Simmons’ bat? Probably not. They’re proving they definitely don’t need Upton. Brian Goodwin has turned into a steal. And they have Adell. Despite the possibility that Simmons is already outpacing Ozzie Smith for his career, and could put himself in the HOF conversation if he stays healthy and plays to his normal level for another 5 years, I think they should bite the bullet and let him go. Trade Simba, trade Upton. Extend LaStella and Goodwin. They have enough offense and could free up even more money to get more pitching to put them in a better position in 2021.
Man, Julio Teheran is doing so well for the Angels. I bet the Braves really regret not resigning him.
Small sample suze
Or exactly as expected.
so, kershaw struggles in one game and the dodgers should throw him away, troll?
Not a troll when I have debated multiple times about the value of Teheran. and how good he would be. He’s struggled (predictably) in two games and obviously doesn’t have the track record of Kershaw to fall back on, but nice comparison.
Yes, troll. Or maybe you’re just an idiot.
Usually they are one in the same.
Only an idiot would judge a pitcher coming back after missing the end of preseason. Enter Briffle.
He pitched well his first game back. No runs scored when he was on the mound, and he stunk it up against a team that won nine in a row.
You’ve proven yourself time and time again to be an idiot who has only minimal, basic level knowledge about the game.
I watched his first game, he didn’t pitch well. He did what he always did, nibbled on the corners and got behind in the count, which resulted in a 6.67 BB/9 for the game. He’s lucky he went against the Mariners, who rank 23rd in team OPS, otherwise there would have been more damage to him.
He walked another two and hit a runner in the his second start. It’s taken him 109 pitches to get through 4 and 2/3 innings, not good. His stuff is continuing to diminish, which means he has to nibble and work the corners more and he’s never had the control to do that effectively. Get used to more walks and bombs, dum dum!
The Braves not resigning him was the obvious right move.
You are a troll because this thread is about Simmons. That said.
I’ve forgotten more about baseball then you will ever know.
He pitched two scoreless innings his first game. Left with two runners on in the third and the bullpen allowed both runs.
He as an ERA+ of 109. An ERA+ of 120 last year. Only an idiot would judge a pitcher after missing the end of spring based on one start. And that idiot is you.
“I’ve forgotten more about baseball then you will ever know.”
Common line from someone who think he knows more than he actually does.
You have a really hard time understanding things, don’t you?. I’m not “judging” him based on his two bad starts (yes, he’s had two bad starts).
I’ve said for months he’s not any good anymore. This isn’t a reaction to his two bad starts, this is me being proven right for what he is. Do you understand the difference? I’m not saying he’s bad because of these two starts, I said he was bad, and his two starts are proving me right.
You know so little about everything, I felt it was worth pointing out.
I think your imbecilic take based on one start speaks for itself.
I think your imbecilic take based on a handful of starts at shortstop speaks for itself.
And I think you coming on a thread about Simmons and speaking about Teheran speaks for itself as well.
So if he goes on and has two good starts, does that prove you wrong? Nobody here is arguing that Teheran is some super star. From 2016 to 2019, he was a solid back end starter who ate up innings. Nothing more, nothing less. Had a 3.86 ERA, 4.53 FIP and averaged 180-190 innings a season. That’s not bad for a pitcher in 2019. The league average ERA and FIP in 2019 was 4.51, so in terms of run prevention, you were getting a pretty solid starter, and in terms of three true outcomes, he was league average.
mlb1225.
No one takes his comments seriously. Is he saying Bundy Sandoval and Canning are great. Was Heaney great after three starts, but based on one bad start he went from great to mediocre?
This whole thing stems from an argument about whether or not the Braves should have re-signed Teheran. I argued that it was the right move letting him walk. The argument shifted to why Braves fans don’t really like the guy and weren’t upset that he wasn’t resigned, despite his success in Atlanta. Halo wanted to make things personal in previous arguments, so here we are.
I made it known my feelings about him and how he would do this season and moving forward in his career. For anyone who watches the guy pitch, more than what Halofan did when he had him on his fantasy baseball team for one season, it was obvious that his stuff has been diminishing the last few seasons. He’s always been inconsistent, but now his stuff isn’t as good and it has resulted in him picking on the corners the last few seasons. He has an increasing walk rate because of that. As Braves fans, we got tired of watching him have a couple of terrible starts, a decent start, then a great one, then go back to a couple of bad starts. His overall body of work at the end of the season usually ended up good for a 4 or low end 3, but as a fan, it was frustrating watching him start-to-start.
I never said he was a bad pitcher in the past, my whole argument was why Braves fan didn’t like the guy, why we weren’t upset that he wasn’t resigned, and why his numbers will continue to decline.
Those of you who keep saying “well you must think this guy is amazing because he’s off to a hot start” or “well this guy must suck because he’s really slumping”, that’s not what I’m saying at all. For months, on various threads, I explained why I thought Teheran was going to continue to decline. I’m not saying he’s bad because of his first two starts, I’ve been arguing that he’s not any good for the last three months. If you don’t understand the difference between those two things, well that’s on you and your brain.
I’ve made my point pretty clear as has Halofan, let’s see how the rest of the season plays out as anything else said will be redundant at this point.
And I have never said that the Braves should have. Or shouldn’t have for that matter.
If your point is that the Braves were smart to let Teheran go… Fine by me.
Does one horrible start by Newcomb and one horrible start by Teheran ( or one good one) change anyone minds? If one start changes anyone minds, they were not on very firm ground to begin with.
It doesn’t change mine. I’m glad the Angels have Teheran. As far as the Braves, good luck to them.
Oh one more thing.
This isn’t a Braves thread. I doubt too many Angel fans have a strong opinion about whether Teheran the Braves blew it by not signing Teheran.
So if you have a problem with Braves fans, take it up with them. Not on a Simmons thread that has NOTHING to do with Teheran.
Another great start by Teheran. Could’ve been worse if it wasn’t bad base running by the Dodgers.
3.1 innings, 6 hits, 4 earned runs, 1 bb, 3 k, two home runs.
He now has an 12.38 era with a 2.0 plus WHIP.
Mets should sign him in the off-season and move Rosario to CF to platoon with Nimmo or just trade him because his D is horrible. Simmons is underappreciated with his all world D. Simmons and Gimenez up the middle would be nasty on D.
The Mets would then have two non-CFs playing CF. Have you been watching Nimmo on defense? He has been horrible. A corner OF playing out of position. And he doesn’t hit well enough to start at a corner spot. This is why he is considered a fourth OF by many people around baseball. He is not a starter on a good team.
He sucks, I can’t stand him. I wish he would have been dealt for Marte. I just know that they won’t move on from him. Simmons would help the Mets so much!!!!
Nimmo with two more misplays last night. The Mets up-the-middle-defense is atrocious. They drive up pitch counts by giving away so many outs. Signing Simmons and to play alongside and guide Gimenez would surely improve that. While the jury is out on Gimenez’s bat, I have seen enough to believe he is an everyday player. Excellent instincts. He sees an opportunity and is seizing it.
As an Angel fan, I hope Simmons re-signs.
I love watching him play.
Thank you for continually typing “re-signs” in a world that mistakenly uses “resigns.” That drives me nuts.
The Mets should of signed DiDi for SS. They probably still can if he doesn’t stay in Philadelphia