Andrelton Simmons, Tommy La Stella find new homes, per reports

A pair of ex-Angels found new homes late Tuesday, with shortstop Andrelton Simmons reportedly agreeing to terms with the Twins and second baseman Tommy La Stella finding a home with the Giants.

Simmons signed for one year, $10.5 million with the Twins, per multiple reports. Twinkie Town has more on Minnesota’s new shortstop. La Stella is close to a multi-year deal in San Francisco, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Those two comprised the starting middle infield for the Angels on each of the last two Opening Days. Simmons and La Stella started 40 games in the infield together with the Angels, with their last two seasons interrupted by injuries. La Stella broke his right tibia, costing him the second half of 2019, while Simmons missed time with ankle sprains in both 2019 and 2020.

Simmons is one of the best defensive shortstops in major league history, and hit .297/.346/.356 in 30 games last season before opting out during the final week of the season.

La Stella found his power stroke with the Angels. After hitting 10 home runs in 947 plate appearances over his first five major league seasons, La Stella hit 20 homers in 438 PA with the Angels. That included four home runs while hitting .273/.371/.475 in 2020 with the Angels before getting traded to the A’s on August 29.

Links

• It was a busy day for infielders, with Marcus Semien signing for one year, $18 million with the Blue Jays. Bluebird Banter has more details.
• Freddy Galvis signed with the Orioles for $1.5 million and one year, writes Mark Brown at Camden Chat.
• Cesar Hernandez re-upped with the Indians, getting $5 million for 2021. Matt Lyons at Let’s Go Tribe has more.
• Former Angels pitcher Dan Haren, who received zero votes on his first and only Hall of Fame ballot, had some fun with the results: