César David Izturis ( ) (born February 10, 1980 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela) is a shortstop in Major League Baseball who plays for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the half-brother of shortstop Maicer Izturis, who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Julio Izturis, who plays in the minor leagues in the San Francisco Giants organization.
Izturis' greatest strengths are spectacular defense and solid contact hitting. A switch-hitter, he is better from the right side and he has good speed but very little power.
Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent in , Izturis made his debut with Toronto in and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the season.
Coming from a long tradition of Venezuelan shortstops, which includes Chico Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillén, Omar Vizquel, Alex González and Carlos Guillén, Izturis has the defensive skills to rank in such distinguished company. After showing some hitting potential with a .269 average in his rookie season with Toronto, the Dodgers were enthusiastic to trade for him.
Izturis was designated as the everyday starting shortstop from Opening Day of the season, and he quickly established himself in the Dodgers' infield. But he showed no patience at plate, resulting in a decline in average and very few walks. After two years of barely adequate hitting (though compensated by his stellar glovework), he improved markedly in , when he hit .288 with 62 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 159 games. At the end of the season he earned his first Gold Glove.
In , Izturis started playing as well as any shortstop in the Major Leagues, hitting .348 through June 1st and leading the entire Majors in hits, was selected for the National League All-Star team, but dipped all the way down into the .250 range. Curiously, his defense also seemed to suffer. After two trips to the disabled list, Izturis underwent Tommy John surgery in his right elbow, and returned in mid-June, 2006.
With the uncertainty around Izturis, the Dodgers acquired shortstop Rafael Furcal in the offseason. That move seemed to have put Izturis' future with Dodgers in doubt. With a $13 million dollar annual salary, Furcal did not seem a likely candidate to be benched.
At the 2006 trade deadline, Izturis was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Greg Maddux and cash considerations. His only memorable moment as a member of the Cubs came in June 2007. After third baseman Aramis Ramirez hit a game winning home run to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, he was greeted in the dugout by Izturs, who reached between Ramirez's legs and gave him a good shake. This is commonly referred to on Chicago sports radio stations as a "Cesar".
On July 19, , Izturis and cash were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later.
On November 16, 2007, the Pirates declined an option on Izturis, and he became a free agent. Shortly thereafter on November 30, 2007, Izturis signed a one-year, $2.85 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.
