“Everything the light touches… that is your range at shortstop, Simba.” Ok, so maybe that isn’t quite what Mufasa said to Simba in Disney’s movie the Lion King but for our case it reigns true. Perhaps you know the Angels new shortstop by his real name Andrelton (ANN-drull-ton) Simmons but to the fans of the Atlanta Braves, Simba is an all too familiar nickname for the best defensive shortstop in baseball.
Last offseason the Angels traded the aging second baseman and expiring contract of Howie Kendrick for a much younger, long-term valuable pitcher in Andrew Heaney. This offseason the team flipped the other end of the former double-play duo in Erick Aybar(32), who is also aging and has an expiring contract to the Braves.