StaTuesday: Glove of Twins’ Simmons by the numbers

Last offseason, the Minnesota Twins inked Josh Donaldson — arguably the best bat on the free-agent market — to a four-year deal and a franchise-record price tag.

And, just a few months before the 2021 campaign begins, the Twins signed the best available glove. Andrelton Simmons officially hopped on the Twins bandwagon via a one-year deal worth $10.5 million on Sunday.

Simmons’ bat isn’t too shabby — .271/.318/.362 slash line with 26 doubles and seven homers over the past two seasons — but the Twins brass brought him in for his outstanding defense.

Since he debuted in 2012, Simmons leads the big leagues in defensive runs saved (DRS) with 191. Way, way back in second place is longtime Colorado (and now, St. Louis) third baseman Nolan Arenado with 120 — a full 71 fewer runs saved. That’s a lot.

Coming to Target Field this summer. 👀#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/qclgi7CvKW

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) January 31, 2021

Since the stat was first tracked in 2002, only third baseman Adrian Beltre tallied more defensive runs saved (202) than Simmons. However, Beltre had 17 seasons at third base to rack up that many DRS (17 of his 21 seasons were logged). Simmons is 31 years old and has nine seasons under his belt.

In 2017, Simmons started 158 games at shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels and posted 40 DRS, the highest mark in MLB history. Only seven other players have logged a single-season DRS of over 30, including center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who ranks second with 38 DRS for Tampa Bay in 2015.

For reference, the best mark by a Twins player over a single season is 23 DRS by Byron Buxton in 2017, his lone Gold Glove season.

Simmons also ranked third in the big leagues with 23 DRS in 2018 and logged 12 DRS in 102 contests for the Angels in 2019.

Simmons, who has won four Gold Glove awards at shortstop (2014, ’17, ’18, ’19), ranked in the top three among American League shortstops in SABR defensive index (SDI) from 2016-19, posting the highest rating in ’17 and ’19. He also led National League shortstops in SDI in 2013 and ranked second in ’14 and ’15.

Additionally, Simmons owns three of the top 15 defensive seasons by bWAR in MLB history. His 5.0 defensive bWAR in 2017 ranks third all time, followed by 4.3 in 2013 (10th) and 4.1 in 2015 (15th).

Pairing him on the left side of the infield with Donaldson will do wonders for the Twins pitching staff.

Since Donaldson’s first full season in the big leagues in 2012, he ranks 29th among MLB players and sixth among third basemen with 31 DRS. In 2019, Donaldson posted 15 DRS with Atlanta, tying a career high and finishing 13th in the Show and third among third basemen.

So, what does it all mean? To put it simply, life might be a bit boring for whomever starts in left field for the Twins.