15 worst Toronto Blue Jays free agent signings in franchise history

8. INF Maicer Izturis - three years, $9M (2012-2013 offseason)

What a strange contract this was. After playing for the Expos and Angels for the first eight years of his big league career, Izturis signed a three-year contract (plus a fourth option year) with the Blue Jays heading into his age 32 season.

A light-hitting switch-hitter who had a reputation for being a poor hitter but strong defender, Izturis wasn’t even able to continue this trend for his new club. He didn’t hit, he didn’t field and he didn’t even play out the entirety of his contract.

In 2013, Izturis played just 107 games before going down with an injury that took him out of play in the second half. He had hit just .238 with a 65 OPS+, good for -0.1 oWAR. His defense was worse, as Baseball Reference says he was worth -0.3 dWAR in this abbreviated season.

2014 was another wasted season as the middle infielder made just 11 appearances before, you guessed it, going down with an injury that took him out for the remainder of the year. 

Entering 2015, what was going to be the last year on his deal no matter what, Izturis was finally healthy. Until he wasn’t. This time he didn’t even make it out of Spring Training.

He opened the regular season on the injured list and ultimately underwent yet another surgery in June and did not play a single game for the Jays that year. His option was declined at the end of the season and he wound up retiring from the game that offseason despite the fact that he re-signed with the Jays on a minor league deal.

While Izturis was awful during his tenure, he wasn’t making a ton of money, which makes it easier to place him so far down on this list.