Angels SS Andrelton Simmons unexpectedly opted-ut of the final week of the season, as is his right in this Covid-impacted season based on the agreement between the Players Union and MLB. Of course the irony here is that if there is one major leaguer who has shared social media memes questioning the veracity of the virus and its impact it is “AndrelQanon” Simmons himself!
While the Angels have the option of giving him a Qualified Offer – a one-year approximately $17 million deal, they appear to be so deep at middle infield there is a good chance that they will not make that offer. His opt-out probably indicates some disappointment that the club did not pursue a multi-year deal with him. If this is the end of the road for the Angels and Andrelton Simmons, let’s take a look at what he has accomplished over five seasons as an Angel in Anaheim.
We can certainly say he was the greatest defensive middle infielder in franchise history, among many of his contributions to the club. Of 708 possible games in which he could have played (Four 162-game seasons and one 60-Game season) he played in 561, so the nagging “what if” over his injuries will always color his stay here.
•Had 2020 been a full season we might be looking at a new franchise leader in Defensive Wins Above Replacement (dWAR). Barring a return next year, he leaves with 13.0 dWAR, second only to Bob Boone in franchise history.
•Simba is one of 43 Angels players with 2,000 or more Plate Appearances and one of 51 Position Players to appear in 500 or more games wearing a Halo.
•Although not known as an offensive player, his .281 batting average as an Angel is tied for 15th best in club history (for Angels players with 1,500 or more Plate Appearances, of which there have been 73) and his 11.1 Offensive Wins Above Replacement (oWAR) is tied with Don Baylor for 29th best among Angels. His adjusted OPS+ is 96, but he’s tied with Darin Erstad for 44th all time.
•A lot of his advanced stats place him in the mid-30s among Angels batters because of his low walk rate, but as a contact hitter who did not walk very much, he didn’t strike out much either – his 10.9 AB/K is tied for 10th with the franchise.
•Do you remember: He was 8th in the 2017 A.L. MVP voting and 15th in the 2018 A.L. MVP voting?!?!
•He won 2 Gold Gloves at SS as an Angel. Perhaps another awaits him for his thirty games here in 2020?
•He was the Wilson Defensive Shortstop of the Year three times (2017, ’18, 19)… any chance he gets it for 2020?
In Baseball History…
Simba already ranks 14th in dWAR all time in baseball history after only nine seasons and his .981 fielding % ranks 9th all time in MLB history among Shortstops.
Can you say Cooperstown? You can if he keeps this up, it just doesn’t look like it will be in Los Angeles of Anaheim for him.
Photo by Rex Fregosi, Spring Training 2018
Simmons and Teheran are off the books for $24 million. The 2021-22 Free Agent Shortstop group is going to be amazing and we’ll be done with Pujols money. Story, Seager, Baez, Lindor and Correa. The next year Upton comes off the books. (Pitching, Pitching, Pitching) We have the nucleus. The 18 pitchers in 21 picks is going to be huge if we can get a few to shine. I think we are two years away from being really good if we play our cards right.
While I like him, if he has no intention with staying with the team, he should had been traded. Hopefully he does stay, but I’m not betting on it
But I will bet that the GM will get his walking papers in the offseason!
Can anyone who follows the farm closely give us some input on where Jahmai Jones stands? Just curious.
I would try an offer him a contract at 3/30 or 35 and see if he bites. Barreto is not the answer, and Rengifo does not come close to replacing either Simmons or Fletcher. Simmons has been an offensive surprise in his stay at Anaheim. My fear is he ends up on either the A’s or Rangers and torches The Angels until he retires.
I love Simba’s glove but his bat isn’t capable of torching anyone IMO. Also he can’t stay healthy and that won’t get better in his decline years.
Now seems like the time to move on. That money needs to go towards pitching
There are a lot of assumptions being made here about Simmons motivations, and the optics of giving up. I didn’t fault Markakis, or David Price, and I certainly wouldn’t fault Simba on those lines, even only 5 games away from a losing season in his FA walk year.
There are also rumors about illness in the family, and if that is the case, with the only vague whiff of a possibility of making the playoffs (and the team seemingly happy about using this season to try out everyone everywhere to prepare for 2021), I don’t see the issue.
We can still give him a QO (which I think we should) or give him an extension (which I would also be tempted to do). There is a SS market, but most of them are either Simba’s age and would require just as much money. I am happy with his defense, and think the ankle injuries have been fluky, not indicative.
Simba had the right to opt out – and I don’t fault him for using the option.
Simba is the type of player that most fans don’t realize how good he is/was until he’s not there. While Arte is squeezing pennies given his stupid prior decisions, some team will pay Simba in the range of 4/55M and not regret it.
I’m really down on Simba for this. I’m guessing he was told they were not going to resign him (at least not before the offseason) and he just decided to shut it down with 5 games left. It’s pretty weak if you ask me and not a great way to go out. Makes me sad – I am a Simba fan. But this is not the way to go out.
Pretty much guarantees he won’t be a Halo in 2021 (sadly).
Dude opts out with 5 games left. What a quitter. Sorry but I don’t respect anyone that quits on their team, even if there’s no chance they’re making the play-offs. Says he did what was best for his family – what a bunch of BS and what a shitty thing to do to his teammates. Loved his defense at short but I don’t want a quitter on this team, so good riddance.
Yeaaaaaah it’s not a great look. Compare to La Stella who was tearing up at being traded.
I love Simba. I think he’s the type of “glue” player Maddon spouts off about. I hope they resign him as long as the contract is reasonable. He’s not that old, a three or four year deal would be fine. Fletcher will be cheap for years and it looks like once Pujols is gone 1b/DH will also be cheap. Rengifo and Berreto are solid bench players who we don’t have to pay a ton.
We can afford Simmons. He, along with Trout, would give us 3 HOFers in the end most likely. That has value. I’m not sure what is going on with these last 5 games. Honestly, if the money is right for both sides in December I doubt anyone cares. The Angels “lack of interest” could very well just be because they don’t know who the GM will be. They can still go after Simba and I would strongly recommend at least QOing him even if we don’t have a GM in place yet.
But what do I know? I haven’t even stayed in a Holiday Inn Express since June.
I like the Qualifying Offer approach as well. Just don’t let him walk…He is a much better offensive threat than when we first picked him up. Great teammate, enjoys playing the game and like watching him. Not sure what day it was but a couple of games ago, he seemed distant when the camera had a close-up on him. Not a typical Andrelton look. Perhaps the realization his Halo career might be coming to a close. Dunno. Or perhaps he has caught some stench from Arte’s office that he will not be offered a competitive contract, compounded by the Angels trying to move him to Toronto at the deadline. Something was bothering him. Just odd about the Opt Out from a player like Simmons.
So Rengifo/Barreto at 2B next year?
1. Fletcher
2. Walsh
3. Trout
4. Rendon
5. Ohtani
6. Upton
7. Ward
8. Stassi
9. Rengifo
It’s not terrible, the real question is the pitching.
Rengifo has worn off of me, big time. His defensive ability is limited and does little on offense.
Honestly, I think we are going to see a lot of bounce back from players all over the league next year. I think Spring Training exists for a reason and Covid screwed a lot of players up. I don’t know who, but I bet the Angels, along with many other teams, see some players show 2020 as a fluke season and return to norms next year. I think Rengifo is probably giving us his worst showing on both sides of the ball this year.
Yeah, possible for sure, all it might have taken is one day wearing a Dodger cap that sunk his mojo before Arte pulled the hook on the trade. He was Much better in 2019.
Am I the only one that doesn’t see this MI depth? For next year we have Fletcher and………………… Rengifo I actually like but he’s far from a sure thing and I don’t think can just be handed a starting job in 2021. We traded LaStella. We have some minor leaguers that are light years away. Jones has had stretches where he can’t hit AA pitching at all.
I’d really see what Simmons market is before letting him walk.
I’m with ya.
Agree. I think what will happen is that Simmons walks and The new Angels GM will go into the FA market and sign someone. Barreto blows and Rengifo has looked horrible this year.
Barreto! ugh. I always enjoy those Hitler parodies, where they take that movie “Downfall” and add new subtitles. So in this one that I’m seeing in my head Hitler is upset because Simba is opting out and says “at least we can play Noodles at 2b”.
I think they let Rengifo and Barreto both have a shot, and maybe acquire someone at the deadline if they wind up competing.
He doesn’t want to come back next year. He’s shown no indication of wanting to re-sign, and the club has shown no indication it wants to keep him. Give him the QO, and let him walk. They can get some depth via the market. his DWAR has been declining for a few years now, he’s injury prone, and getting older. If he accepts the QO, it’s one year. He’s not worth committing to more than that.
Why do you say “he’s shown no indication of wanting to re-sign”?
I think the opposite is true. He wants to stay. I don’t think Arte wants to pay him though.
The Modern Human Highlight Reel. But, sorry dude, the Angels need to spend that money extending Fletcher and grabbing pitchers. Can’t wait to see more of your highlights and watch you hit homeruns against the Angels 🙌🏻
David Fletcher isn’t an FA until after the 2025 season. They probably won’t try to extend him till he’s at least into arb after 2022.
Thank you Rev for this article and the numbers that Simba put up as of right now even with me suspecting that the team would continue along with their plan to go on without him as it makes no sense to me. He would of been much less money to keep than to sign a big name guy after 2021. And it would of keep the best keystone combo in MLB for at least 4 more years. Yes they could resign him but that is highly unlikely. My resentment toward Moreno who we know is calling the shots is at an all time high. Sad, sick, Mad all at the braindead Team “Leadership”.
I think this idea of the “best keystone combo” is important. While I doubt Simmons/Fletcher is the best by any stretch, it is really good and defensively very very solid. It really is a building block, and if you signed Simmons for 45/3 or something the whole combo would cost 20m a year even after Fletch hits arb. That’s a steal.
As I have said in the past, I like Fletcher, but he’s not the Beiber like figure people around here take him for. He’s a solid defender with a sub-.800 OPS. That’s great, but he’s still 70 points shy of say good Ben Zobrist. He’s not gonna get a huge paycheck in arb, so we can pay Simmons a little and still pay for pitching etc while retaining a solid Fletcher.
Great article!
I don’t blame him at all for opting out. For whatever reason, our FO doesn’t appear to want to extend him and there is always a chance, however remote, of being injured in the last week in meaningless games.
Probably my favorite player. Definitely the end if an era.
I don’t like the Opt Out look, not a fan at all but love Simba.
Surpise. My favorite player too.