Angels acquire Andrelton Simmons

In exchange, Atlanta received top pitching prospects Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis, as well as veteran shortstop Erick Aybar.

Aybar, an All-Star in 2014 and an AL Gold Glove victor in 2011, hit.270/.301/.338 in 2015.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski will return for another season with Atlanta after agreeing to a $3 million, one-year contract….

So, what does this deal do for both teams?

Simmons could be an intriguing option for the Mets, who got by last season with the combination of Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada.

Simmons is possibly the best defender in the game in his prime. Simmons is pretty much a singles hitter.

Trade rumors began to circulate late Wednesday, and the Braves insisted they weren’t looking to trade Simmons but were willing to listen.

A big Thank You to all the braves fans for all their support throughout these last couple of years. He raved about the former Tigers reliever’s change-up and was impressed with his ability to still throw in the mid-90s by season’s end.

Williams was Washington’s manager for two seasons. However, the Mets have big questions about whether Simmons can make adjustments to upgrade his hitting. 276 in a full season….

Simmons also is under contract through 2020, while Aybar could become a free agent next winter.

I think when you have an opportunity to pick up a premium position player – more balls are hit at shortstop than anywhere else – you do it. The free agent market, historically, does not generally offer a plentiful amount of shortstops. He struck out an impressive 168 batters in 136 innings, but also issued 76 walks. He averaged double-digit strikeout-per-nine tallies as well, though his composite 5.0 BB/9 walk rate shows that he’s still in need of polishing. In 2015, MLB.com rated Newcomb as the 19th best prospect in all of baseball.

For Heyward and a decent setup man, Jordan Walden, the Cardinals gave up Shelby Miller and a good pitching prospect, Tyrell Jenkins.

Before getting to the pitchers coming to Atlanta, a word about Briceno. Simmons committed just eight errors in 2015, and had a career high.

Calendar gaffe • Charge an error to the company licensed by Major League Baseball to produce the Washington Nationals’ 2016 calendar. 320 on-base percentage, and the hope is that, as he gets older, that will continue to improve. Although a modest-at-best offensive player, Simmons is widely regarded as one of the greatest defensive shortstops in history and the best at least since Ozzie Smith and Omar Vizquel.

But with just 4 homers, 23 doubles and 2 triples, Simmons is a one-dimensional player who will likely hit around eighth or ninth in the order.

Not only that, Anaheim’s farm system was already ridiculously thin, and now with their two best prospects gone, it is undoubtedly the worst in Major League Baseball. Now the team will have to look elsewhere to replace the playmakers.

In a pitching-rich division such as the NL East that features Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Stephen Strasburg and Jose Fernandez, Atlanta needs to keep up in the arms race anyway they can. Why did they sign Nick Markakis to a four-year deal last year?

But my early read is the Braves are not in the mode of lowering their price too much.