Prospect Notes, March 26, 2012

by John Sickels on Mar 26, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

March 22, 2012; Tempe, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Johnny Giavotella (9) hits an RBI single in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

Prospect Notes, March 26, 2026

**The Kansas City Royals sent second baseman Johnny Giavotella to the minors, in favor of Chris Getz and Yuniesky Betancourt. I have to say that I agree with Rob Neyer's take on this.

Maybe there is some sort of underlying issue here that isn't public knowledge, but based on what we do know, this looks like an unwise move to me. Getz and Yuniesky aren't going to improve beyond what they already are, while Giavotella can still do so. As Rob says, "the Royals, by any measure, have chosen an older, lesser player over a younger, greater player. And this is a team supposedly defined by its young players."

**Boston Red Sox first base prospect Lars Anderson is having a very good spring, 11-for-32 (.344) with three doubles, a homer, five walks, and 11 strikeouts. He's blocked of course by Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz, although Anderson has seen a few innings in the outfield this spring in an attempt to enhance his versatility. At this point his best value to the Sox is as trade bait and injury insurance. Let's see if he can maintain his spring momentum in Triple-A.

**Milwaukee Brewers second base prospect Scooter Gennett hit for the cycle Sunday, giving him a 5-for-10 mark in five games this spring. Destined to begin the season in Double-A, Gennett was drafted in the 16^th round in 2009 from high school in Sarasota, Florida. He hit .300/.334/.406 last year for High-A Brevard County in the Florida State League, and is renowned for his contact hitting skills, although his defense at second base needs more refinement. He turns 22 in May.

**New York Mets pitching prospect Matt Harvey had a bad day yesterday against the Washington Nationals, giving up seven hits, five runs, and three homers in just one inning of work. Harvey was already in minor league camp so this bad game has no real impact on his future. Harvey attributes the poor performance to being "amped up" and rushing his delivery.

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Read More: Adrian Gonzalez (1B - BOS), David Ortiz (DH - BOS), Yuniesky Betancourt (SS - KAN), Chris Getz (2B - KAN), Lars Anderson (1B - BOS), Johnny Giavotella (2B - KAN), Matt Harvey (P - NYM), Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers

Comments

Agree with you and Neyer on the Gio take

I mean, he may not be incredibly better than Getz or Betancourt (after all, I don’t think Giovetella was ever a highly ranked prospect; he was 18th in the Royals system according to baseball america). However, considering how in they seemed to be into Salvador Perez (pre-injury), Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and even Lorenzo Cain, I just don’t see why they wouldn’t go with Giovetella since they’re going that direction anyways.

I can understand Betancourt and like him in a lot of ways (he has gotten better since his seattle days), but I’m not that big a fan of Getz at all, who just screams replacement level player to me.

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by objesguy on Mar 26, 2026 1:34 PM EDT reply actions

Actually, stats suggest Betancourt is actually worse than his Seattle days, and at an average of ~0.5 WAR/year he is basically the definition of a replacement player.

by Cormican on Mar 26, 2026 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Ehh... I'd say he's better than THAT. Not great, though.

I think Yuni is an example of where WAR isn’t a great fit. He’s a passable glove up the middle according to scouting reports and he brings occasional pop to the extent where a pitcher can’t just coast on by him. He makes enough contact to not be an easy punch out.

His HR + K’s have both jumped since leaving Seattle, which tells me that he’s taking bigger swings now that the fences aren’t so far away (this doesn’t seem to have helped his OPS+.) He can’t draw a walk to save his life, and that’s his major drawback, but he has punch and his glove isn’t terrible. You can do a lot worse up the middle. Dude is better than replacement.

by GuyinNY on Mar 26, 2026 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions

It's not Yuni's fault but...

There has been a cloud of ill fortune since Yuni’s return. I’m just saying.

by jjmalden on Mar 26, 2026 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Even if Yuni’s better than replacement level (and I’m not sure I’d agree with that), is he $1,500,000 better than replacement level? I’m pretty certain he isn’t. He’s fortunate to play the second least offensive position on the diamond, but I’d still argue you could replace him with anything north of a bag of balls and not notice much difference.

by Cormican on Mar 26, 2026 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Hrmm..

I think Yuni probably is worth about 1.5M in the right situation, such as utility infielder on a contender. He offers a little pop off the bench, can move on the bases, and can competently field up the middle. That’s better than the dreck you’ll get out of AAA, in all likelihood. That shouldn’t be a starter. He’d make sense on a team like the Yankees (though they already have somebody to fit that bill.)

I can see why the Royals signed Yuni, if it was to push Giavotella/keep the position warm till he’s ready. But on a young team like this, you’re better off with a steady veteran gloveman than you are with a guy like YuBet.

by GuyinNY on Mar 27, 2026 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions

From what I have seen his glove is indeed terrible, giving a good impression of a statue daily.

by pedrophile on Mar 26, 2026 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions

In fact, WAR is exactly as good a fit for Yuni as for anyone else.

Things like

He’s a passable glove up the middle according to scouting reports and he brings occasional pop to the extent where a pitcher can’t just coast on by him. He makes enough contact to not be an easy punch out.

are exactly the sort of subjective generalizations that WAR exposes.

"I think what baseball projects, and what classical music needs, is the sense that one goes to a live event not to experience greatness, but to experience the possibility of greatness.... Not every game is great but what we go for is the chance that this particular game might be.' —David Lang

by King Richard on Mar 26, 2026 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

What your saying is no more true than what he is saying

WAR doesn’t have the same accuracy for all players because there is a lot more uncertainty involved in certain things it measures than there are in others. WAR is still a model that is built on far from perfect assumptions. It’s not the be all and end all, it’s just a piece of the puzzle.

by nixa37 on Mar 26, 2026 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions

agreed

If WAR states someone is excellent defensively and I thought they were mediocre then I want to see the player again to see if there was something I was missing. And of course check what scouts and others see in that player.

It’s a useful tool. It’s when people state WAR numbers as definitive facts representing a players ability on D that we have a problem.

by pedrophile on Mar 26, 2026 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions

With Yuniesky, all three advanced metrics that Fangraphs tracks (UZR, TZL, DRS) have him as a negative defender every year from 2007-10. In 2008-9 he was double-digit negative in all three metrics.

When that happens I feel fairly safe saying that he is a very bad defender at short. I think it’d take a very convincing explanation to show that all the metrics are wrong in such a large sample size.

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on Mar 26, 2026 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions

TZL isn't available for 2011 yet on Fangraphs

which is why I left it out, but in 2011 both UZR and DRS had him at about -7. So it’s not like he improved (or at least improved to better than bad).

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on Mar 26, 2026 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions

He said just above that he thinks Yuni is terrible defensively

His comment isn’t about Betancourt at all. It is about the weaknesses of WAR in certain areas, which is what I was commenting on, and what he was responding to.

by nixa37 on Mar 26, 2026 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly!

Yuni is horrible. But I have seen great numbers for bad defenders. And poor numbers for good defenders. It’s a stat in it’s infancy and as such should be taken with a grain of salt.

by pedrophile on Mar 27, 2026 2:29 AM EDT up reply actions

This, basically

I didn’t mean to say that I think Yuniesky Betancourt is a great, amazing player. However, TZ sees Yuni as competent the last two years (everybody seems to agree he had a horrible stretch in 08-09), and I’m still skeptical enough of defensive stats to be leery of outright calling Yuni a replacement level player.

He’s an ok mix (a little pop, decent contact skills, and capable of fielding up the middle.) I’m trying really hard to say that this is a player where I think WAR doesn’t really do a great job of approximating his value in terms of “replacement”, and I think defensively, that holds true as well (even though “average” and “replacement” are basically interchangeable at this point.)

by GuyinNY on Mar 27, 2026 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I am pulling for Lars

he deserves an extended chance at the MLB level. He is a high OBP guy and he has very little left to prove in the minors.

"On [umpire] Jeff Kellogg taking a foul tip to the groin: ‘Two balls, one strike.’"

by James Westfall on Mar 26, 2026 1:39 PM EDT reply actions

what?

How does a 1B who has had a sub .800 OPS in the upper minors deserve a chance at the MLB and has very little left to prove? Maybe if he was a SS.

by bigboy1234 on Mar 26, 2026 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Dayton Moore

I’m surprised he didn’t try to coax Marcus Giles out of retirement to man the keystone position.

by royshowell on Mar 26, 2026 5:06 PM EDT reply actions

the line may not look like it

But G Richards really impressed me today.

by St.Steve on Mar 26, 2026 9:24 PM EDT reply actions

Johnny G

KC has this wrong. Giavotella’s production this year each and every month would better Getz’ production by a good margin - with maaaaybe the exception of april - but that i would chalk up to the developmental progress that has to take place at the big league level.
In just 178 abs he collected 21 rbis which over a full season would put him at Howie Kendrick and Danny Espinosa territory. He also stole 5 bases and hit 4 triples to boot. His cool spring (.190 over 21 abs) is too too small a sample size to go off of for a choice that flies in the face of the 2011 regular season (Getz with a .287 slugging?! and 26 rbis over 287abs). Id like to hear management’s defense of this choice.

by sdaillie on Mar 27, 2026 1:31 AM EDT reply actions

I think mgmt was quite clear.

They felt Gio improved his D from poor to average. They felt it was best in the teams interest for Gio to stay down a little longer and improve his D some more.

I’m definitely not a D.Moore supporter but don’t see a problem with this.

by pedrophile on Mar 27, 2026 2:27 AM EDT up reply actions

if we ever did hear a defense, i'd hope it didnt rely on 21 AB sample sizes and RBIs

Fire Everyone

by billybeingbilly on Mar 27, 2026 3:31 AM EDT up reply actions

So its about defense.

I dont have a problem with Giavotella working on some stuff (including his glove) at the big league level. If the glove is average than its not bad enough for Getz to go past him on the depth chart. Teams dont keep pitchers to aaa to work on their pick off move. How many more runs will Giavotella cost KC with his glove? Five? Six? How many wins will that cost KC? One? Maybe two? How many more wins will his stick get over Getz? 3? 4? No matter how you break this down, it makes no sense. I am sick of Getz. Its not like I am being some irrational fan who is clamoring for the Roayls to bring up a guy from hiA or aa - this is a guy who has already produced at the big league level!
From a distance Ive been rooting for the Royals for years as my other or other other favorite team - but this makes no sense. Go all out - the sticks they would have in the infield with Hosmer, Moose, Giavotella, and Alcides would be awesome. Back to the glove for a second: I kind of think Alcides and Hosmer sorta make up for Giavotella’s potential deficiencies in the field anyway.

by sdaillie on Mar 27, 2026 10:22 AM EDT reply actions