Some scouts watched Andrelton Simmons early last season and wondered if he was completely healthy. While they had admired the Atlanta Braves shortstop for years, it didn’t seem to them that he was getting to absolutely every ball hit in his time zone. Almost everything, yes, but not everything, and as the scouts talked, they sounded as if they were fretting about a wisp of cloud on an otherwise perfectly sunny day.

This search for a flaw underscored Simmons’ relative dominance among shortstops, because even in a year in which he was perceived to be a little dinged up, Simmons lorded over all shortstops in defensive metrics in 2015. As he did in 2014, and 2013. Andrelton Simmons is to infield defensive metrics in this era what Wilt Chamberlain was to NBA scoring 50 years ago.

So context is important in understanding why the Braves are in discussions about a possible trade of the 26-year-old shortstop. The Los Angeles Angels are among the most interested clubs, given that Erick Aybar turns 32 in January and has one year left on his contract, and so are the San Diego Padres.

The Braves insist they are not shopping Simmons, but in the eyes of rival evaluators, Atlanta is very willing to move him in the right deal because the Braves could see the possible tipping point in value on the horizon.

Simmons is about to get more expensive under the terms of his multiyear deal. He’ll make $6 million this year, and then in the four years that follow, $8 million, $11 million, $13 million and $15 million, respectively.

There is a lot of doubt that he is going to improve at the plate because of his aggressiveness, and because of perceived flaws in his swing. A couple of years ago, one staff member from another team -- who loves to watch Simmons play -- talked about Simmons' swing and said, “It is what it is.”

Simmons ranked 13th among 19 qualified shortstops in OPS last season at .660, and in 2014, he ranked 16th among 19.

But at this stage of his career, whoever employs Simmons can expect high-end defense, a shortstop who has an uncanny ability to get to the ball on either side and still deliver a straight throw to first base, rather than sinkers that can skip past the first baseman. The Braves’ Freddie Freeman has marveled about this, about how Simmons always seems to be able to throw a true four-seamer. From the first day Simmons arrived, Chipper Jones talked about how Simmons had a chance to be the best shortstop he had ever seen.

The Angels and other teams are crunching defensive data, writes Jeff Fletcher.

The Padres also are interested in Simmons and have made multiple trades with Atlanta in the past year, but a major question would be whether San Diego has the prospect firepower to make a deal for the shortstop.

Murphy-for-Hicks deal helps both teams

Among his peers, Minnesota Twins GM Terry Ryan is not viewed as one of the more aggressive deal-makers, but in the past week, he won the bidding for Korean first baseman Byung-ho Park; swapped Chris Herrmann to the San Diego Padres; and acquired catcher John Ryan Murphy from the Yankees in return for outfielder Aaron Hicks.

Kurt Suzuki played 131 games for the Twins last season, but Murphy is likely to contend with Suzuki for playing time in 2016, an arrangement that might help keep them both fresh.

Murphy is a two-way threat, writes Phil Miller. This deal helps to pare the outfield logjam for the Twins.

Aaron Hicks, a switch-hitter who excels against lefties, fills a need in the Yankees' outfield. Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images

For the Yankees, Hicks will fill the same role as Chris Young had last year, stepping into the lineup in one of the outfield spots against left-handed pitchers, against whom he had an .870 OPS last year. Hicks often frustrated the Twins with his inattentiveness, moments when he seemed to lose focus. If they believed it to be a sure thing that he would get much better, Hicks probably wouldn’t have been traded. The Twins felt that some of his improvement last season was because Torii Hunter pushed him constantly to stay in each game and in the moment.

But Hicks now becomes part of a larger effort by the Yankees to get younger, along with others in their positional rotation. Hicks is 26, Didi Gregorius is 25, first baseman Greg Bird just turned 23 and outfielder Aaron Judge, who figures to be in the mix next year, is 23. The Yankees believe that if Brian McCann suffered a major injury, Gary Sanchez is ready to step in and be a regular catcher in the big leagues. Sanchez -- who had an .815 OPS in the minors last summer, before winning the MVP award for the Arizona Fall League All-Star Game -- turns 23 in a few weeks.

The contracts of Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran expire after next year, and Alex Rodriguez has two seasons remaining on his contract.

The Yankees could make a serious run at Wei-Yin Chen, writes Mark Feinsand. They traded infielder Jose Pirela to the Padres, as part of their roster management.