How one second base dilemma evolved into another one: How the Blue Jays preach versatility

It’s March 2022, and the Blue Jays are pushing hard for Jose Ramirez to play second base, despite him being a third baseman.

The Jays had just traded a package of prospects for former Platinum Glove winner Matt Chapman to solidify their troubles at third base. However, Marcus Semien signed with the Texas Rangers before the lockout began, meaning that a new hole emerged at second base.
As the season got closer and closer, it became clearer that the Toronto Blue Jays wouldn’t be trading for Jose Ramirez, and that they would roll into the season with the Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal platoon that they had used at third base in the season prior.
Side note: That trade would have devastated the farm, but more importantly, it likely would have involved Alejandro Kirk. I made a whole Twitter thread on that last night, which you can read here. 
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really optimistic about the platoon. While Espinal featured great defense at third, I believed his offensive numbers were aided by the small sample size. 
As for Biggio, he was good in 2019 and 2020, but 2021 was a rough year for Biggio. He slashed .224/.322/.356 in 294 plate appearances and had a 12.6 BB% and 26.5 K% with only seven homers. Not great. Not to mention he had a -3 Outs Above Average (OAA) at third base, where he played most of the time.
So with one guy being awful the season prior, and another guy who provided solid defense, but at best, an average bat, how have we moved into a better dilemma?
Santiago Espinal:
It was easy to presume that Espinal would flourish defensivel …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

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