The Blue Jays have reached a minor league deal with second baseman Chris Getz, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Getz will have an opportunity to compete for playing time at the keystone during Spring Training, GM Alex Anthopoulos said.
Getz, 30, had spent the last four years with the Royals but never gained hold of the club's second base job. Lat year, in 237 plate appearances, Getz put up a .220/.288/.273 triple-slash. Advanced metrics see him as a roughly average defender at second, though he landed at a solid 7.5 UZR/150 mark last year (good for 12th in baseball, minimum 200 plate appearances) and was credited with a career-best five defensive runs saved.
The Jays got a league-worst -2.1 fWAR out of the second base position last year. Getz joins a variety of options already under contract for 2014, including Ryan Goins and Maicer Izturis.
the pool grows!
Ryan Goins, Munenori Kawasaki, Maicer Izturiz, Chris Getz, Brent Morel………
this could have been easily solved if we signed Cano :P
in seriousness, at least with this competition, we can hope one of these guys runs with the job and we can spend our remaining $$$ on some pitching.
Add Nick Franklin if the Jays can make a surprising move including Carlos Peguero and few others for Cecil & Batista or Encarcion.
Great guy, but I am glad that he no longer plays 2nd base in KC.
Getz is going to out-Goins, Goins.
Whatever Chris wants, Chris Getz
Apparently he wanted a minor league deal. Aim high!
Low risk, potentially high reward deal. Good stuff
maybe potentially medium reward
high reward? his career best WAR was 0.7…
adds a ton of speed if he does take the 2b job from Goins, average defense is still an upgrade from Boni and Izturis last year. If he can manage to get on base at a good clip could be a solid stolen base guy to compliment reyes
He has a decent career OBP, but everything else is awful. He also has a career .309 SLG and 0.58 ISO. Yikes.
I think he’d be a great option for late in the game pinch running like what Davis provided last year. Like you said, he also plays average defense, but there’s no way I want him in the starting line-up.
appropriately named.
Watching Chris Getz run the bases is hilarious, just search “chris getz slide” on mlb’s website and you’ll see what i mean.
To be honest I don’t see the panic button with Goins like others seem to. He had a solid bat when he first came up hitting in 8 straight games to start his career then others forget he heated back up towards the end hitting in 9 straight. Maybe he’s streaky at the plate and we’ll have to make due with it but his defensive glove alone makes the izturis/boni combo laughable and should at least provide an average WAR value at the position over the course of the season.
Goins walked TWICE in a quarter-season worth of plate appearances, and he’s not as good defensively as the numbers showed last year. If he was, it would make him the greatest defensive 2B in the history of MLB by a comfortable margin. He’s definitely a good defender, but not good enough to make up for the fact that he can’t hit worth a damn. He’s been a below-average hitter at every level of the minors despite being old for the level he was at; what makes you think he’ll suddenly learn to hit at the major-league level?
His wife was on Amazing Race. :)
Whatever Chris wants, he Getz!
these guys needa sign cruz! then switch him to the infield, I’m sure 2b is a lot easier for him to play
How does Chris Getz this many opportunities to lose a 2b job at the pro level?