Should We Give Up on Chris Getz?

by Freneau on Nov 16, 2010 12:39 PM EST in Kansas City Royals News

Last season was supposed to be the year for Chris Getz. Acquired via the Mark Teahen trade, Getz was brought in to shore up the middle-infield defense at second base, add some speed to the lineup, and help make the roster marginally younger. (Getz himself would be cheap, but when you factor in the money sent back to Chicago, it wasn't much of a cost-cutting move.) The Royals wanted to hand the position to Chris Getz and they more or less did. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good.

Should we give up on Chris Getz or is there still any reason to expect more?

In 72 games last season, Getz hit a disappointing .237/.302/.277. His offensive game totally collapsed, with a low batting average dragging down his entire profile. I give Getz credit for at least managing to post a .302 OBP with a bad BA and no power. He did what he could to get on-base, and for that reason alone, he escaped having one of the worst offensive seasons of any player this century. Nevertheless, a .302 OBP is still, overall, bad.

Coupled with middling defensive numbers and a healthy positional bump, Getz was nearly exactly replacement level in 2010. Replacement level is not good. As a Royals fan I've been so used to sub-replacement level players that I sometimes see a -0.1 WAR and think, "hey, that's alright." It's not.

In his age 26 season, Chris Getz was not a productive baseball player. He was not good. He did not make the team better. He was one of the worst second-basemen in the AL, and if you look at some of the guys that got sent out there in 2010, you know that's not saying much.

At this point, Getz's future in baseball depends on his batting average. Getz's BABIP last season was .270, which is a little low for a fast-ish player, but it's not catastrophically OMG he was super unlucky low. Getz hit .298 on balls in play in 2009, and that's somewhat reasonable to expect next season. Almost entirely on a BABIP bump, the always hopeful Bill James Projections forsee a .264/.333/.339 mini-comeback in 2010.

Getz walked in 7.7% of his plate appearances and struck out in 12.5% of them. I'm a little worried that in 2010, in an effort to have him cut down on strikeouts, the Royals will encourage Getz to be more aggressive and try to be more of a slap hitter. In that scenario, Getz's strikeouts, walks, and line drives will all likely go down, making him just as bad or possibly even worse.

In light of Mike Aviles's resurgent September, it seems likely that the Royals will start the 2011 with Getz the lesser half of some kind of offense/defense platoon at second. However, Aviles is not exactly on solid ground performance wise, health wise, or status in the organization wise. By all indication, the Royals, at some level, "like" Chris Getz. At 670 career plate appearances, with a lifetime, .252/.315/.320 triple slash line and blah defense, I'm not sure there's much reason for them to continue doing so.

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We don't give up yet.

He has a chance to rebound. If he can do anything we might as well keep him as he is basically cheap as it is. When we have to start paying him more than $500K it’s time to cut bait.

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by 306008 on Nov 16, 2010 12:49 PM EST reply actions

Yep

Paying him ML minimum is not a crime against baseball. Better than signing the Spork to a multiyear deal for a similar role.

by BlueEyes_Austin on Nov 16, 2010 1:45 PM EST up reply actions

Reason to expect more?

In limited playing time in 2010, Getz had a .276 wOBA and probably played average-ish defense at 2B, putting him right around replacement level. Any way he can bounce back from that?

Well, imagine a player doing even worse — a .271 wOBA, being one of the worst defenders in his league by consensus, and being one of the worst regulars in the league by pretty much every measure. It’s not a sample size fluke, as he plays almost every day and it’s not terribly inconsistent with prior performance. Then the next season, he actually is still pretty bad, but improves by about two wins… Of course I’m talking about Yuniesky Betancourt.

Chris Getz is probably a bench or platoon player at best. I’m not going to get worked up about him, and was never that high on him. On the other hand, he’s making the minimum, can play acceptable 2B defense, and if the Dead Cat Bounce applies to Yuni, it applies to everyone. Yes, I know we fans are stuck watching Yuni, but if we’re talking about the realm of what the Royals “should” do, despite Betancourt’s marvelous 0.6 WAR breakout in 2010, he is what he is, and there’s not point imagining he’s going to build up his trade value. Start the season with Aviles at SS and Getz at 2B and see what happens. Not to beat a dead horse, but Vin Mazzaro was a replacement level player in 2010, too, but we don’t think that’s his true talent, and we shouldn’t. Getz should play next season for the same (basic) reason Mazzaro, Sean O’Sullivan, and whichever crappy center fielder the team picks will: let’s see what we have while it’s cheap and the team isn’t contending.

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 16, 2010 12:53 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Is this actually a positive comment for Mazzaro?

Vin Mazzaro was a replacement level player in 2010, too, but we don’t think that’s his true talent, and we shouldn’t

by Boots 58 on Nov 16, 2010 1:13 PM EST up reply actions

sure

I don’t think saying a guy “good” enough that he probably isn’t really a replacement level player is all that positive, but I guess it is, and I think it’s the truth.

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 16, 2010 1:15 PM EST up reply actions

I see him as the IF backup.

If Yuni goes down, Aviles = SS and Getz at 2nd
and when Aviles goes down, Getz will replace him at 2nd.

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Nov 16, 2010 1:25 PM EST reply actions

the one “positive” thing about Yuni is that he never seems to get hurt.

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 16, 2010 1:34 PM EST up reply actions

C'MON GROIN PULL!

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 16, 2010 1:37 PM EST up reply actions

You know Yuni....you really don't need to stretch EVERY game.

"Chiefs will...crush our enemies, see them drivin before us and hear the lamentation of the women."

by Brian Harris on Nov 17, 2010 7:17 PM EST up reply actions

He does seem useful as a cheap backup/project, and he would be more useful if

he were a good platoon partner. He should be able to spell Aviles/Yuni against RHP in spots, but his career (limited) platoon split is nonexistent. Maybe we can assume he has one as LHB platoons don’t always readily display themselves (from what I understand).

The only people who really know where [the edge] is are the ones who have gone over it.

by SagehenMacGyver47 on Nov 16, 2010 1:35 PM EST reply actions

LHB platoons splits manifest themselves more quickly than RHB

but Getz isn’t close to having enough. At 1000 PA vs. LHP, you regres halfway to league average for LHB. Getz has 125 MLB PA vs. LHP.

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 16, 2010 1:44 PM EST up reply actions

I Don't Think

There’s anyone we need to be playing instead of him, and we can’t go cheaper, so I don’t mind if he’s around another year. It’d help if he could play average SS. Yu-Bet, of course, fucks up the whole equation. With Betemit and Fields likely platooning at 3B and Billy at 1B, IF defense will be shaky to begin with.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 16, 2010 1:52 PM EST reply actions

Bianchi?

Go Royals!

by BabyBlues on Nov 16, 2010 3:55 PM EST up reply actions

Bianchi has never played in triple A, I believe. He needs to worry about getting back to where he was, I’d be incredibly surprised to see him in KC this year.

by WURoyal on Nov 16, 2010 6:55 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Bring him to spring training

see if he is rebounding and make the decision. If he is still sucking trade him for a AA batboy and a dozen baseballs.

by Terry L. Kelly on Nov 16, 2010 2:01 PM EST reply actions

His offense is what it is (below avg),

but it’s his defense that really disappointed me. I thought we were getting a guy good enough defensively to justify playing a 625-650 OPS bat.

Note: his defense was not actually bad, just mediocre. Confusing part in evaluating him: being “just mediocre” defensively tends to make him look like a gold glover when you compare him to the other middle infielders on the Royals roster.

Bottom line: Give him playing time if you’re in the mood to see if he can develop, or, if it were up to me, make him the middle infield backup until a better option comes along.

"We're gonna win with pitching and defense" General Manager Dayton Moore, circa winter 2009

"Where did all these Indians come from?" General George Armstrong Custer, circa summer 1876

by loyal2sdad on Nov 16, 2010 2:40 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

I would pitch him and bring up Bianchi when/if he is healthy.

Go Royals!

by BabyBlues on Nov 16, 2010 3:56 PM EST reply actions

worked with Brian Anderson :)

by Freneau on Nov 16, 2010 5:26 PM EST up reply actions

I don't have a problem

with the Royals keeping him around. He’s not blocking anyone, and he doesn’t get paid much.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Nov 16, 2010 3:56 PM EST reply actions

Kind of my sentiments

If at a minimum it keeps us from acquiring Willie 2.0, I’d be satisfied. As far as Bianchi, I thing he’s not even an option at this point. He’ll have to make a solid recovery before Getz is “blocking” him at the ML level.

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by AtTheWall on Nov 16, 2010 4:29 PM EST up reply actions

Can't say I ever had any faith

That I can give up.

He looked crappy when we got him, he looks crap now. Ho Hum.

by kcbottom9th on Nov 16, 2010 4:00 PM EST reply actions

What he said

That said, he now has “defensive replacement/pinch runner” written all over him in indelible ink, even if he wasn’t all that fast or wonderful defensively.

Feh.

by The Ol' Perfesser on Nov 16, 2010 4:12 PM EST up reply actions

Expect very little going forward, but there's no infield depth so might as well keep him around

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 16, 2010 6:40 PM EST reply actions

I'm with Loyal2s

I don’t anyone can make the argument that Getz was worth having last season because his defense offset his flaccid bat. His defense WASN’T that hot. In fact, he looked downright terrible at times.

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by LaFLamme on Nov 16, 2010 6:51 PM EST reply actions

I do remember Getz having some really bad calls on some of his bunt attempts.

Being called out of the batters box when he wasn’t as so forth. Pretty sure it happend three or four times.

Go Royals!

by BabyBlues on Nov 16, 2010 8:08 PM EST reply actions

Can't Believe These Comments

Getz sucks to high heaven. He can’t hit major league pitching. Let’s bring up Johnny Giovatella and give him a chance. If we keep Getz, it’s for emergency purposes only.

by david.lowe on Nov 16, 2010 8:49 PM EST reply actions

Skipping Omaha is a proven strategy

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 16, 2010 10:51 PM EST up reply actions

We've got to rush Gia to KC so the Royals can win 70 games this season instead of 69.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 17, 2010 11:29 AM EST up reply actions

Is Gia a long term solution into his Arb years?

I just don’t see it with him. He’ll be nice to have until he gets expensive, then we cut bait. Colon can move to 2nd and hopefully we’ll have a badass SS or sign one.

by AxDxMx on Nov 17, 2010 2:18 PM EST up reply actions

just how old is the goomba?

Like a weapon labeled "very stupid weapon, do not use." - BabyBlues

by Crooow on Nov 18, 2010 12:58 AM EST up reply actions

23 until next July

by Tito42 on Nov 18, 2010 8:14 AM EST up reply actions

I don't think he'll be much of anything in the majors

Maybe a utility IFer who can’t play SS. That’s just a guess, so who knows. But I think he should be developed in a way that maximizes his opportunity to become a good or at least decent player. My point wasn’t that we should hold off calling up Giavotella because we don’t want to start his service time clock yet. I was trying to say don’t rush him to the majors until he’s ready to compete at the major league level. I don’t think he’s the kind of special talent who should skip AAA. I don’t think there’s good reason to believe he’s major league ready at this point.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 18, 2010 10:33 AM EST up reply actions

Which is why I don't think it matters when he comes up, and you seem to agree.

The only reason not to bring him up is if we think he would fail miserably, and there’s a good chance he could at this point. I wasn’t advocating for bringing him up now, as much as I was for bringing him up as soon as we think he’s ready.

by AxDxMx on Nov 18, 2010 1:54 PM EST up reply actions

He is harmless as a back-up IFer who can also pinch run. So on that level I do not have strong feelings against him making the 25-man roster at $400K. What I fear, less so post-Hillman, is that the Royals will fall in love with his grit and play him everyday. If he plays when Aviles is healthy, then I will start to hate him.

Can Getz play OF? If so, that would improve his chances of sticking around in the majors for a few more years quite a bit. Not as a starter, but as another spork type guy. Unlike Willie Getz does actually have one plus skill, his speed.

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by James Quinn on Nov 17, 2010 9:28 AM EST reply actions

Getz defense

I partly blame some of his issues on the fact that he played what 2 games a week at most until September?

by stlJeff on Nov 17, 2010 10:09 AM EST reply actions

He Hasn't Played

Enough to get a meaningful sample of his defense. I think he’s probably better than he’s shown.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 17, 2010 10:14 AM EST up reply actions

agreed

Like a weapon labeled "very stupid weapon, do not use." - BabyBlues

by Crooow on Nov 18, 2010 12:59 AM EST up reply actions

We just acquired someone

to be the scrappy middle infield backup guy, didn’t we? I don’t remember his name, and don’t care enough to look it up. Getz is a redundancy that isn’t offensively good enough to justify the roster spot, even at his last season at league minimum.

It's all ball bearings these days!

by CentralChamps20?? on Nov 17, 2010 11:18 AM EST reply actions