Twins' Andrelton Simmons Opens Up About His Depression, Suicidal Thoughts

New Minnesota Twins shortstop Andrelton Simmons opted out of the final week of the Los Angeles Angels' 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, he told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register in a series of Twitter direct messages that he did so because of depression and suicidal thoughts he's experienced since his youth:

"It was tough for me mentally to where the thought of suicide crossed my mind. It was something I vowed a long time ago I would never consider again. I was fortunate to talk to a therapist, which helped me let go of those thoughts. At the end when a lot of people were still going through what most would think of as tough times, the idea of finishing the season in a bubble was too much for me to handle."

Simmons, a four-time Gold Glove winner who signed a one-year, $10.5-million deal with the Twins over the weekend, said he wanted to talk openly about his own situation to help others.

"Now seeing how more and more people are struggling with depression, anxiety and suicide I felt it might be time to share a little piece of my story," he wrote. "I was afraid of people judging and people twisting my story."

Seeing other people's struggles during the pandemic—along with Major League Baseball mandating a more intense quarantine for teams still in playoff contention the final week of the season—prompted Simmons' decision not to play the Angels' final games.

"I was really saddened by how much I was hearing about the death toll," he said, "and seeing how smaller businesses were going out of business and I was a little depressed at how the effects of all the new rules and fears were gonna affect people’s livelihoods and how disconnected people were becoming."

A number of athletes have publicly been speaking out about mental health struggles, from Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan in the NBA and Dak Prescott and Hayden Hurts in the NFL to swimmer Michael Phelps and MLB player Drew Robinson.