Izturis the New Scutaro??? I Think So

 

Yesterday I did some basic review to better understand who would man 2nd base for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013.  Emilio Bonifacio, or Maicer Izturis.  What I found was that Maicer Izturis doesn't quite have the resume you'd expect of an everyday 2nd baseman. What I found was that Izturis is more of a utility infielder that can cover 2nd base well for stretches.  Going to bed, I assumed Izturis must be going to split time.  All the rumbling in the press seem to have second base as a competition between Izturis and Bonifacio though right?

 

I've discovered that Baseball-Reference.com doesn't even have 2nd base listed as a position for the newly acquired Emilio Bonifacio. He's listed as: outfielder, third baseman, and shortstop. Why? Because in six major league seasons, he's played only 75 games at 2nd base. That's 16% of his total games played. 15 games at second in 2012, 5 in 2011, 5 in 2010... you get the picture. And his fielding percentage is .960 at 2nd base. By comparison, Izturis has a .990 fielding average at 2nd base.

 

I'm not going to get into all the positives right now that Bonifacio brings to the field with his speed or his bat.  The only thing I'm really interested in seeing at the moment is if he's a realistic 2nd base candidate. For 5 - 15 games a season he is. But he's not going to be the every day guy. But Izturis is not an everyday guy.  What's going on here?

 

Remember Marco Scutaro? He had never been an everyday guy in 6 Major League seasons until he came to Toronto.  He was a great infield-utility guy that Oakland fans were fond of. For the bargain price of $1.5 million per season,  Toronto gave him his shot at being the every-day guy at the ripe age of 32... and he ran with it.  Scutaro's been a full-time guy ever since, has a World Series ring with San Francisco, and is in the midst of a $6.66 million dollar season at the age of 37 (with 2 more seasons still coming guaranteed at that price).  Amazing to think he was playing in TO for $1.5 million a season.

 

So, I guess Izturis is the new Scutaro. At the age of 32, Izturis is now the Utility guy given his late first shot at being the everyday guy for a bargain price.  He has a better resume than Scutaro had coming to Toronto, and Maicer should be able to hold his own in the field. Due to a stacked line-up, he's not really under pressure to produce in the 9th spot with his bat.  If he does produce with the bat, great. Having looked a little closer at his stats lines, today I'm feeling confident that Izturis is a low risk-high reward kind of gamble.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how Izturis will make out in his new full-time Blue Jays role in 2013.