The Blue Jays made a shocking revelation today at the Buffalo Bisons’ annual Hot Stove Luncheon when Alex Anthopoulos spoke to the media.
Yes, that mind-blowing revelation was that the Blue Jays signed second baseman Chris Getz to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league Spring Training. Getz is a major league veteran with over five years of ML service time under his belt. The quality of that service time is questionable, however.
Getz spent four of his six seasons in the bigs with Kansas City with a career-high .672 OPS in 2012 in 210 plate appearances. Defensively, it’s hard to tell much but, according to Fangraphs, Getz has a career negative DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) of -12 but positive UZR at 5.3, which works out to 2.1 UZR/150 (averaged over 150 defensive games).
For Getz, this is likely as close as he’s going to get in a competition for a job with a major league team. Few teams are as underwhelmingly stocked at second base as the Blue Jays are (with Maicer Izturis and Ryan Goins) but is Getz all that much of an upgrade? With mediocre defensive numbers and a career 1.2 WAR in 1546 major league at bats, how much better is he than Goins?
For the record, Goins put up a 0.4 WAR in just 121 plate appearances in 2013 and had a 62 wRC+ while Getz has a career 67 wRC+. Fangraphs loved Goins’s defense (in a small sample size), crediting him with a 6.2 UZR (which works out to a 33.1 UZR/150) and 12 Defensive Runs Saved, giving him a 24-run swing over Getz’s career DRS.
The big question for this competition (if you want to call it a competition) is whether you think that Goins has any more upside with the bat after just 121 major league plate appearances. Kevin Seitzer has said that there’s more potential than we’ve seen seen in Goins’s bat and I’ll work under the assumption that Seitzer knows more about hitting than I do rather than write it off as part of the overwhelming optimism that one hears about everyone throughout the offseason.
It’s an interesting thought, brought up by Andrew Hendricks on Twitter, that it’s the connection with Seitzer and the Royals that got Getz signed by the Blue Jays:
One wonders the effect that new Hitting Coach, Kevin Seitzer had on the Getz acquisition.
— Andrew Hendriks (@77hendriks) January 16, 2014
I still think that it’s Goins’s job to lose and, personally, I’d rather see what kind of offensive production we can get from Goins in a full season. Getz will be a nice addition to a veteran infield in Buffalo. #GoWithGoins
In other news, the Alex Anthopoulos surprises us yet again (yes, I’m being facetious) by saying that trades and free agent deals for starting pitchers have been out there for the taking but the Blue Jays felt that the price was too high. I’m all for this approach. Only make the move if it’s the right one at the right price. Bob Barker would be proud.
While they won’t get the starting role I would rather see Goins play. Much more exciting defensively.