Does Trade of Yamaico Navarro Mean More Chris Getz in 2012?

The Royals' on-again, off-again, relationship with Chris Getz continues. Rivals come, rivals go, but Getz remains. Mike Aviles is long gone. Yamaico Navarro was potentially a utility threat to Getz, but he's a Pirate now. Johnny Giavotella is around, but he hit only .247/.273/.376 in 46 late-season games last season.

Are we primed for another round of Getz?

Here are Getz's numbers as a Royal:

That flash of offensive competence he showed with the White Sox in 2009 looks further and further away. He's done his best to get on base, but for two years now his batting average and slugging numbers suggest a player who just doesn't make good, solid, hard contact with the ball. Worse, after a really effective year stealing bases in 2010, his success rate plunged in 2011. (Though Fangraphs rated his overall baserunning as better last season.)

His defense would seem to be good, not great. Overall, he was a replacement level player in 2010 and worth about one win in 2011, an improvement tied nearly entirely to more playing time and a better UZR number.

2012 is set to be Getz's last season on the Major League minimum (give or take the random $50,000 here or there). I suppose, for that price, he's not a terrible player to have on the roster. Is Gio definitively better?

Getz frustrates me, but honestly, I suppose he isn't that bad. He's not good mind you, but I guess, he's not awful. He absolutely should not be anywhere near the top of the lineup however.Paired with Escobar, Getz means we have a middle infield that provides next to nothing offensively. That's not the end of the world, but it is something you have to work around. As of late, the Royals haven't often had elite hitters anywhere else on the corners to make up for it.

Then again, perhaps Getz's demotion in 2011 was meaningful and Gio is now in place at second base. As I've said earlier this winter, I've given up trying to predict or understand.