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  • Andrelton Simmons Isn’t Good Enough to Get Away with This


    RandBalls Stu

    Baseball has a storied history of cranks, weirdos, and straight-up goofballs. When that charm or blissful ignorance isn’t matched by performance, you’ve got Andrelton Simmons.

    Image courtesy of Flickr/Peter Bond

    Twins Video

    Remember Steve Carlton? The not-very-integral member of the 1987 World Champion Minnesota Twins was, at one time, the best pitcher in baseball. Four Cy Youngs, five years leading the National League in strikeouts (the fifth time at age 38), last pitcher to throw 300 innings a season, led the Phillies to their first title in 1980. A remarkable career.

    He was also completely out of his mind.

    Carlton never spoke to the media, which means we didn’t learn until he was long retired that he built a mountain lair with a 7000-foot storage cellar loaded to the gills with guns and bottled water for “The Revolution.” That revolution was coming thanks to Russian sound waves, the Skull and Bones Society, the Elders of Zion, the National Education Association, and more. I’m aware this qualifies him to represent the state of Georgia in Congress today, but in 1994 this was wild stuff.

    One assumes that the Phillies knew that Steve was off his nut, but when you can produce like he did, you let that stuff slide a little bit, especially if he keeps it quiet. By the time he was failing to make the Minnesota Twins playoff roster because he wasn’t as good as Lester Straker, he was just a cooked 43-year-old with weirdly anti-Semitic ideas about how the world works. He never pitched again.

    Which brings me to Andrelton Simmons.

    Already the COVID patient zero of the Twins locker room, he took to social media on Thursday to let the world know, and I quote:

    Quote

    "I have this product it doesn’t/didn’t really work, You might get some side affects! You should take it."

    I’m not going to debate the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines with Simmons or anyone else, as there is no debate to be had. They work. Please shut up and let the horses have their wormer paste. (Also, it’s “effects.”)

    Across town, the Vikings are dealing with a similar situation. A handful of their best players (Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith, I guess Kirk Cousins if you squint hard enough) apparently won’t get the vacc either. It presents some hard choices for them, as they don’t have quality replacements for any of them as the regular season looms, and the NFL will make teams forfeit games if they can’t field a lineup due to COVID quarantines.

    The Twins face no such dilemma.

    The season is over. Simmons is an offensive liability and a good-to-excellent defender, which basically makes him a better Jeff Reboulet, if Jeff Reboulet thought Jurassic Park was real. He’s on a one-year deal. Maybe if he was the standout player in a disappointing season you could let his idiocy slide. Or maybe if it was something less harmful and kind of quirky, like thinking the earth was flat or dedicating his Instagram Stories to proving that birds are a deep-fake.

    He’s not good enough to get away with this. Let the summer of Drew Maggi begin.

    Image license here.

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    48 minutes ago, PseudoSABR said:

    You don't think Simmons is implying that the vaccine isn't effective? Because I can't read it any other way.

    What the heck is the  antivax movement but mob thinking? (Reliance on other people agreeing with me, rather than expert opinion, science or peer reviewed research). Seriously. Kettle meet pot

    Yes I do think he’s saying that.  But that doesn’t negate the only other tweet he’s made on the subject.  

    Mob thinking on any side is wrong.  But you can’t say that Simmons is participating in it.  I have a good friend who’s daughter just started speaking her first words.  She got her vaccinations one day and he says (and I believe him) that that was the last day she said anything. That was 18 years ago and she is still non verbal.  He’s anti vax and I can’t blame him one bit.  

    Simmons says he has personal reasons to not get vaccinated. That’s enough for me.  I got vaccinated and I doubt Simmons would care.  

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    12 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

    For the record I am vaccinated.

    I went to my doctor and said I don't know if I have ever had covid, never tested positive. He said there have been studies (Cleveland Clinic is one) that if you have natural immunity the vaccination isn't more effective and since I have a family history of autoimmune disease (possibly side effect of the vaccine is triggering these) I should get tested to see if I have had it.

    He suggestion was if I had Covid not to get vaccinated because the side effects could be worse, I was tested and never had it and got the vaccine.

    Now onto Simmons, he has had Covid, so him not getting the shot is very understandable, seeing quite a few players, actors, politicians getting covid after getting the shot it is somewhat reasonable for him to say "doesn’t/didn’t really work",  him saying "might get some side affects" is an absolute fact, there is no denying that.

    But when put all together it isn't a good message, the message should always be talk to your doctor and discuss what is best for you and your situation. Is it a reason to cut somebody, absolutely not, but it is 2021 and if people disagree with you, you never know what might happen.

    Edit: I will add anybody on here telling people to just get the vaccine without regards to their own situation can be just a damning.

    The best post on here.

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    52 minutes ago, jgfellows said:

    Yes I do think he’s saying that.  But that doesn’t negate the only other tweet he’s made on the subject.  

    Mob thinking on any side is wrong.  But you can’t say that Simmons is participating in it.  I have a good friend who’s daughter just started speaking her first words.  She got her vaccinations one day and he says (and I believe him) that that was the last day she said anything. That was 18 years ago and she is still non verbal.  He’s anti vax and I can’t blame him one bit.  

    Simmons says he has personal reasons to not get vaccinated. That’s enough for me.  I got vaccinated and I doubt Simmons would care.  

    And yet millions and or billions get vaccinated with no known side affects yeah it sucks to be the 1% that might be affected by them and I do say might because I haven't seen any definitive proof but they do far more help than harm.  I don't know a single person in my lifetime that is known to have had issues with vaccinations.  All of my kids have them.  All of my family and all of my friends to the best of my knowledge. None of my family or extended family were affected and none of my friends no one that I am aware of.

    Someone who wants to tell people to not be protected seems negligent IMO.  If he doesn't want to get the shot fine but don't try to mislead people that vaccinations are bad or not worthwhile.  We have factual proof of the opposite Polio being a prime example. As I said they litterly work for everyone I have ever known. Thousands of people have died of the coronavirus because they decided not to get vaccinated and in the end likely millions. His statements are not helping people or the situation and there is factual evidence to prove that is not just opinion.  He was shouted down on Twitter and should be shouted down so that other people have a chance to live.  Lives are literally at stake and he doesn't seem to care or understand the gravity of the situation.

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    I don't care what your opinion on the vaccine is, this has to be one of the dumbest takes I've seen on anything on this page in a long while, if not ever. 

    I mean, I get it. Virtue signaling and running political cover for yourself that costs you nothing while trying to non-person someone who doesn't share your pathological obedience to authority or deranged hypochondriatic beliefs is a pretty easy and gutless position to take at the moment. 

     

    I'd be curious how many people here who are correctly pointing out that the 1st amendment does not apply to an employer/employee relationship were espousing 1st amendment argument for the Kaepernick dust up. Considering the responses I've seen and the make up of the liberal Alabama known as the Twin Cities, I'm guessing the number is fairly high. 

    I'm sick to death of people taking straight forward comments about a single thing and conflating them to be arguments that aren't made, extrapolating them into oblivion to look better to their friends and neighbors.

     

    Acknowledging that the vaccine has its downfalls and doesn't prevent you from getting Covid is just that. Any other sentiments or arguments gleamed from crystal clear syntax is your problem and shows a fundamental inability to understand basic language and argue in good faith. 

     

    The vaccine does not guarantee you don't get covid, ergo it may or may not work. It does have some side effects. These are true statements. 

     

    I get that standing on a soapbox to espouse really safe and popular opinions in an echo chamber is a popular strategy right now, but it demonstrates a glaring misunderstanding of and respect for any semblance of rational discussion and merely acts as a reminder to "not forget that I have the right opinions today".

     

    This page should be better, and the readers deserve better than this circle jerk of an article that only exists to remind us that Randball Stu believes he's a good person. 

     

    It's gross. 

     

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    That isn't how vaccines work. They do not always prevent disease. Vaccines limit and minimize the disease process by jump starting the  acquired immune response. Instead of 10 days of illness you have 3 days if you are vaccinated, or for COVID you don't die or suffer long haul symptoms. The fact is the mRNA vaccines were so good initially pre-varianasty it made evening getting sick seem unlikely and have made this "they don't work argument possible." Simmons is making the same invalid argument you are.

    And no legitimate research has linked cognitive disorders and vaccination.

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    14 hours ago, jgfellows said:

    I’m not suggesting that the Twins can’t DFA anyone for any reason on or off the field.  The issue I have is with groups of people who aren’t attached to a company thinking that they have the right to have someone fired.  It’s happening way to frequently these days.  This mob rule mentality is misplaced power.  That is the first amendment argument.  Mobs don’t have the right to try restrain someone else’s first amendment right.

    I would agree with that.

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    9 hours ago, PuckettProtector said:

    It's gross. 

     

    Well....you got one part of this right, but I got that feeling at the end of your post.

    I get that you think what you posted was well reasoned, but it was entirely composed of specious arguments.  I suspect you might already be aware of that, if not you've consumed the misinformation intoxicant like a champ.

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    9 hours ago, PuckettProtector said:

    I'd be curious how many people here who are correctly pointing out that the 1st amendment does not apply to an employer/employee relationship were espousing 1st amendment argument for the Kaepernick dust up. Considering the responses I've seen and the make up of the liberal Alabama known as the Twin Cities, I'm guessing the number is fairly high. 

     

    Literally no one.  No one made those arguments. And if they did, plenty of people who supported Kaepernick would correct them. 

    Did Kaepernick ever get his job back? Does Simmons still have one? Hmm.

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    10 hours ago, PuckettProtector said:

     

    I'd be curious how many people here who are correctly pointing out that the 1st amendment does not apply to an employer/employee relationship were espousing 1st amendment argument for the Kaepernick dust up. Considering the responses I've seen and the make up of the liberal Alabama known as the Twin Cities, I'm guessing the number is fairly high. 

     

     

    As a moderator on this site, please keep your comments to Simmons. This is not the same situation. One didn't affect the health and welfare of others and the same one was blackballed from working again. This is not at all the same thing and is a false equivalence. And we are not going down that rabbit hole. If you want to discuss Kaepernick's situation, go to the Current Affairs club and start a thread. Thanks.

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    11 hours ago, PuckettProtector said:

     

     

    The vaccine does not guarantee you don't get covid, ergo it may or may not work. It does have some side effects. These are true statements. 

     

     

     

     

     

    Of course it doesn't guarantee you don't get Covid wearing a mask doesn't either but how many people have died that got the vaccine?  How many have died because they didn't?  How many people might have life long health issues because they took the vaccine?  How many with life long health issues that didn't take it?  The numbers are startling if you look at them. The only side effects of the vaccine are maybe a headache and sore arm that isn't much of a side effect compared to death IMO.  I don't think what Simmons said was helpful in any way at its least without further context misleading at its worst very harmful if someone gets hurt or dies because of it.

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    I think Simmons fielding percentage of airborn covid globules headed my way is probably somewhat short of Pfizer or Moderna in effectiveness, but may be could give Janssen a run for its money, as well AstraZenica. Definitely I'd give Simmons the starting job over Sputnik Zifivax and Abdala. Neither am i sure i would trust any other middle infielder over him.

    And at $10 million he is well below the R&D costs of anything on the market. His problem is that he doesn't scale at all. . It would take more than a decade before new Simmonses might become viable defenders in their own right , and who knows what variants he will be effective against?

    So even if he is good enough, there isn't much he can do to stem the tide of the pandemic, and that sets him up for unrealistic expectations.

    And as for baseball, keep him around! I personally will be just as disappointed if they let him go early as i would be if they let Buxton go.

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    16 hours ago, jgfellows said:

    Yes I do think he’s saying that.  But that doesn’t negate the only other tweet he’s made on the subject.  

    Mob thinking on any side is wrong.  But you can’t say that Simmons is participating in it.  I have a good friend who’s daughter just started speaking her first words.  She got her vaccinations one day and he says (and I believe him) that that was the last day she said anything. That was 18 years ago and she is still non verbal.  He’s anti vax and I can’t blame him one bit.  

    Simmons says he has personal reasons to not get vaccinated. That’s enough for me.  I got vaccinated and I doubt Simmons would care.  

    It's not mob thinking, it's the acceptance of science. The earth is also round and evolution is real.

    Just because rational people are loudly and vehemently telling the brainwashed to wake up, doesn't make them a mob.

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    Public figures are held to different standards in our society, like it or not. Simmons decided to make his personal opinion public on the platform most associated with maelstroms of hate, outrage and personal attack regardless of the topic in the world today.

    High profile professional athlete's, especially in team owned sports, have contracts containing clauses about personal conduct. These clauses are quite wide in scope and while I don't believe they're intended to curtail freedom of speech, they're designed with the expecation employees are consciencious with their behavior and statements. Have you ever noticed how many pro athletes stay further away from politics than the story of Star Wars takes place from our galaxy?

    This article was probably ill-advised because of the likelihood it would lead to the creation of a rift in the community, yet I believe it also falls under the scope of Twins related content because the straw which broke the camels back in roster decisions have definitely been made in similar circumstances.

    Andrelton Simmons' statement was straight up stupid (because it took a minority position on a very hot button topic) and it does potentially impact not only his position on the Twins, but also whether or not he receives a contract offer this offseason. It all depends on how much it blows up. Right now, it's a non-issue because no national media has picked it up; they're focused on Trevor Bauer and Kirk Cousins.

    Edited by bean5302
    reason statement was stupid
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    8 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

    It's not mob thinking, it's the acceptance of science. The earth is also round and evolution is real.

    Just because rational people are loudly and vehemently telling the brainwashed to wake up, doesn't make them a mob.

    I’ve never once said that vaccines aren’t science or support of vacccines is mob thinking.  Go back and actually read what I’ve written.  I’m not going to repeat myself if you just plain don’t read

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    The Twins knew what they were getting in Simmons.  That's why they paid $11 million for him instead of the $18 million that Semien got from Toronto.  You get what you pay for.  Simmons has contributed at least as well as expected, and maybe better than expected at the plate. The Twins were banking on Royce Lewis.  He hit .235 in AA in 2019, but the Twins were expecting him to jump, effectively, to the show.  Oops.  

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    BAseball---I won't mind the Twins cutting Simmons loose. I don't think he has given the Twins full value for his contract. (I guess it can be argued Donaldson hasn't either) Simmons has not hit at all. His fielding has been OK. For the money, can they do better? I think so. I don't think he fits the mold of this team. Has he been 'awful'? No, but I won't be sad if they find someone else.

    As for the other stuff, I always respect the team approach when you are on a team. I dislike the Yankees but they have a protocol if you want to play for them. No beards or long hair. If you don't like that you play for another team. Rather than promote individualism, they promote team unity. You don't have to like it but they sign your paycheck. And they have created an identity. A team identity. I do like that.

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