Is it safe to say that Boneface has lost the 2b job?

[The_Hater]

I know. I was being sarcastic, hence the eye rolling.

Anyway, looks like we have a 32 year old that put up an 82 wRC+ last season in the lineup every day. At least he has a decent glove.

Ya, sorry about that.

Izturis 82 was a career low and only that bad because for some odd reason he couldn't hit a lick at home the past 3 seasons. I'm pretty confident he'll be higher that that this season. If he's closer to 95-100 there's nothing wrong with that from a middle infielder with an above avg glove.

[Skin Blues]

wRC+ is park adjusted, but yeah Anaheim is a bad place to hit. Problem is he's never been all that good, and never really been a full time player. Hoping for a 95 wRC+ and above average middle infield defense is essentially asking for a career year from a 32 year old utility infielder.

[The_Hater]

wRC+ is park adjusted, but yeah Anaheim is a bad place to hit. Problem is he's never been all that good, and never really been a full time player. Hoping for a 95 wRC+ and above average middle infield defense is essentially asking for a career year from a 32 year old utility infielder.

Well his career averages are a 94 wRC with above avg MI defense so I'm a little confused on how that would be a career year. Plus 32 is far from ancient. I actually think that's a pretty reasonable expectation.

[Skin Blues]

It's not ancient but he's definitely on the downslope. A 32 year old that has never had 500 plate appearances is just not somebody I'd expect a lot of improvement from, especially coming off of a down year. But hey, it's our weakest position, so it's not the end of the world. As much as everybody hates KJ I think we'd have been better off with him at 2B full time and Maicer as utility IF. Then you flip a coin between keeping one of Bonifacio and Rajai. But, Gibby's gotta play with the cards he was dealt, and it's a pretty good hand I'd say.

[Hendrix]

I don't really recall.

But, why didn't we bring back Kelly Johnson? He was kind of frustrating at times last year to watch with the stick, but it was a down year. Historically he's a .760ops guy that would have solidified the defense at 2b. I mean, the guy only got 2.45mm this year for a 1 year contract. Couldn't we have brought him back for about the same money, and then wouldn't have to be dinking around with this weak spot in the lineup/defense?

[Redeemer]

I don't really recall.

But, why didn't we bring back Kelly Johnson? He was kind of frustrating at times last year to watch with the stick, but it was a down year. Historically he's a .760ops guy that would have solidified the defense at 2b. I mean, the guy only got 2.45mm this year for a 1 year contract. Couldn't we have brought him back for about the same money, and then wouldn't have to be dinking around with this weak spot in the lineup/defense?

kelly is a horrible defensive 2b. we initially brought izturis for 2b, but with the marlins trade created some playing time issues that should clear up when lawrie is back.

izzy is not gonna be flashy at 2b but will get the job done. way better than kelly and emilio.

[Hendrix]

Kelly being a horrible defensively is hyperbole.

It's not his strength, and he's probably a little under average, but he is serviceable defensively at 2b, with a -2.0 uzr/150 over his career. That is not horrible. When he's hitting the ball you can live with it, and a ~.760ops bat would have really helped strengthen the bottom half of our order. Last year was a bad year, but on his career he's a decent option.

[Redeemer]

but unfortunately he's on a decline (ryan roberts is starting over him in tampa bay) he's either gotta be top defensively or a quality hitter. but he strikes out too much, he did get on base a lot in atlanta and arizona but he didn't show much in toronto last year. izzy is around the same price or 3 years.

[Hendrix]

I'm not sure you can say he's declined, and not just chalk it up to statistical variance. He's 30 yo, posted a 5.4 war 3 years ago, and a 1.7 war 2 years ago. In all honesty I think I could live with the production he gave 2 years ago. The good thing about him is he always has a 10bb%, so even when he's posting up horible averages he's still gonna get on base a decent amount. And, when he does start hitting, you have a guy with some pop and a good obp. Over the last 2 years he's got kinda unlucky with babip. If you normalize those 2 years, he's probably a .245/.330/.410 guy over the last couple years and that would be a nice bat to have since our bottom half isn't super awesome.

Regardless, I was just wondering. It may not be worth thinking about if Izzy gets to play 2nd, and looks good.

[Redeemer]

not gonna get into the whole sabremetrics, dont entirely agree that stats show everything. all i am saying is he can't make the starting lineup for tampa over ryan roberts, what makes you think the jays could use him or he'd be a better option than izzy?

[The_Hater]

I don't really recall.

But, why didn't we bring back Kelly Johnson? He was kind of frustrating at times last year to watch with the stick, but it was a down year. Historically he's a .760ops guy that would have solidified the defense at 2b. I mean, the guy only got 2.45mm this year for a 1 year contract. Couldn't we have brought him back for about the same money, and then wouldn't have to be dinking around with this weak spot in the lineup/defense?

KJ ended up signing that contract very late in off-season, I would imagine that he was initially looking for more $$$ on a much longer deal.

[TorontoRaptures]

Izturis hit 35 doubles in 2011. How huge would it be if he could provide anything near that for the Jays this year. He's a better player than he typically gets credit for. He's a perfectly workable 2B who is coming off a down year.

[Mehar]

Aaron Hill would look good right now at second (LOL).

[satyr9]

Izturis hit 35 doubles in 2011. How huge would it be if he could provide anything near that for the Jays this year. He's a better player than he typically gets credit for. He's a perfectly workable 2B who is coming off a down year.

In 2011 Boni had 26 doubles and 40 steals to go with an extra 25 points of OBP compared to Maicer. If he isn't killing you at 2B - and they're both gonna play a lot either way - you test him out to see if you're getting that Boni and then you play him.

I don't even disagree with your assessment of Izturis, but I promise you that Boni is getting more than a 5 game tryout at 2B before they throw that idea away.

[Randle McMurphy]

There were no balls hit to 2B on the ground today, therefore no opportunity for Bonifacio to screw up again. Lucky him. Hope to see Izturis there tomorrow with more of a GB pitcher in Dickey on the mound.

[TorontoSlaptors]

Heard the next promotion for the Jays would be a Bonifacio bobble hand promotion. #LoveThisTeam

https://twitter.com/slaptor/status/320362292116078593

[TorontoRaptures]

Izturis hit 35 doubles in 2011. How huge would it be if he could provide anything near that for the Jays this year. He's a better player than he typically gets credit for. He's a perfectly workable 2B who is coming off a down year.

In 2011 Boni had 26 doubles and 40 steals to go with an extra 25 points of OBP compared to Maicer. If he isn't killing you at 2B - and they're both gonna play a lot either way - you test him out to see if you're getting that Boni and then you play him.

I don't even disagree with your assessment of Izturis, but I promise you that Boni is getting more than a 5 game tryout at 2B before they throw that idea away.

I agree Boni has the higher potential and the team wants to see what he has. But the team has shown its win now mode (no clearer point than sending Ricky down rather than giving the respected vet a couple chances). I'd guess Boni has until Lawrie returns to really prove himself. After that, Izturis probably gets most starts unless Boni convincingly outplays him. Still, Boni will get his at bats.

Boni's K rate is too high for a guy with no power. He's also only had one good season so far in his young career (although 30 stolen bases in 33 attempts last year is sick). Izturis has proven himself over many more seasons. And though Izturis' defense is on the decline, it's still much more reliable at 2B.

[TorontoRaptures]

Also, one thing we could consider if Lind continues to struggle is Melky to DH and Boni to LF. Melky is so slow out there in left; it's kinda painful to watch.