Andrelton Simmons

[MilkSpiller22]

I think it is time for him to get some respect... He is the best defensive SS out there right now... and if he continues what he is doing then he will be the best defensive SS of all time... In fact since Ozzie smith is seen to be the best defensive player of all time, then actually Simmons would be the best of all time...

Just if he could become a decent hitter, he would be a shoe in for the HOF(at least the same way Trout is)...

 

[bamabear82]

He's alright.

 

[Darkstone42]

I think it is time for him to get some respect... He is the best defensive SS out there right now... and if he continues what he is doing then he will be the best defensive SS of all time... In fact since Ozzie smith is seen to be the best defensive player of all time, then actually Simmons would be the best of all time...

Just if he could become a decent hitter, he would be a shoe in for the HOF(at least the same way Trout is)...

The kid is amazing, and his early-career offensive profile is not dissimilar from Ozzie's. There's upside with his bat, but he's a great player on his glove alone, and will have a great career even if the bat never comes around.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Iglesias in Detroit is better.

 

[Darkstone42]

Iglesias in Detroit is better.

He's a great defensive shortstop for sure, but no one is on Simmons's level defensively. Iglesias has hit better, but it's been carried by a high BABIP which his minor league numbers don't indicate he's certain to sustain, he doesn't walk much, and he doesn't hit for much power. He can remain an above-average hitting shortstop if the BABIP stays high, but he's got a pretty big potential for regression with just about no room to grow with the bat.

Simmons, as mentioned, has otherworldly defense, and he's shown more power potential than Iglesias, but doesn't hit for the same average on balls in play. He's worse offensively now, with no guarantee of improvement, but he's got a lot more upside than Iglesias does.

To this point in the season, they're effectively a wash, though. Simmons has posted a 1.9 fWAR and Iglesias a 1.6 fWAR. Iglesias's value is wrapped up a lot in defense, but skews more toward offense than Simmons's. Simmons has been unbelievable defensively, though, to make up the gap.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

Andrelton Simmons has the highest single season dWAR of all time(5.4)... and is already in the top 125 of all time in dWAR with 13.8... He has only played for 4 seasons so far and this season isn't even over...

 

[Mondo Jay]

Best defensive SS I have seen in a Braves uniform. His defense definitely rivals the Wizard of Oz. I had hoped he would show a bit more offense this year...

I love that defense is being valued much more in baseball these days.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

The kid is amazing, and his early-career offensive profile is not dissimilar from Ozzie's. There's upside with his bat, but he's a great player on his glove alone, and will have a great career even if the bat never comes around.

only difference is that simmons doesn't seem like he will ever be a good SB guy... Smith was a pretty good SB guy...

 

[Bmurph]

Saw the kid play my local Juco team here at the NJCAA World Series at Mike Carter field. I said this kid is going to be one hell of a professional baseball player. I went to watch some of the kids I coached and one of my players still brags about striking him out. He hit a HR off another and I believe if I remember correctly he came in and pitched to close one of the games for WOSC. He also made one of the best plays Ive ever seen by a kid at SS.

Hope he picks it up some offensively, for one of my fantasy teams sake. HAHA!

 

[tabascojet]

Yeah but how is his backflip.....

 

[The Derski]

I didn't realize he wasn't getting the attention he deserves. Dude is a stud at SS, I thought that was common knowledge.

 

[tducey]

He's had a great defensive start to his career for sure, let's see how he does going forward.

 

[navamind]

only difference is that simmons doesn't seem like he will ever be a good SB guy... Smith was a pretty good SB guy...

Smith posted some pretty high OBPs at times and finished with a career .337 OBP. Smith was a very efficient baserunner.

 

[soxfan1468927]

The kid is amazing, and his early-career offensive profile is not dissimilar from Ozzie's. There's upside with his bat, but he's a great player on his glove alone, and will have a great career even if the bat never comes around.

His early career offense is similar to Ozzie's, but Ozzie did get much better with the bat. From 1982-1993 he had a .273/.353/.345 slash line with a 99 wRC+ and averaged 35 stolen bases a season at an 82% clip. The average shortstop in that era had a wRC+ around 81 and average NL shortstop had a wRC+ around 79.

We'll see what Simmons can do.

 

[HammerDown]