Emilio Bonifacio leadoff?

This is disturbing.  For some reason the club has it in their minds that there is possibility of Emilio Bonifacio being the leadoff hitter.

Barring anything unforeseen, Cameron Maybin is expected to be the Marlins' leadoff hitter.

But one such scenario that could change those plans is if Emilio Bonifacio makes the team.

A switch-hitter, Bonifacio is getting ample opportunities to play third base in Spring Training. The 23-year-old from the Dominican Republic is a natural second baseman who has also played a lot of shortstop.

Third base is new for Bonifacio, and the team is seeing if he can handle the job. If he can, and is on the roster, manager Fredi Gonzalez notes that Bonifacio is more of a prototypical leadoff hitter.

"Maybin gives you some more pop," Gonzalez said. "Bonifacio is more of an on-base guy who can steal you some bases."

 

 

Am I missing something here?  For Bonifacio to be the everyday third baseman, Gaby would have to sent down and McPherson put on waivers.  Okay, that could happen, don't think so, but it could.

But here is the really strange part:

Gonzalez said. "Bonifacio is more of an on-base guy who can steal you some bases."

Fredi, I'm not the king of stats but what in Bonifacio's past leads you to believe he is an "on-base guy" or that he can "steal you some bases"?

In the majors he has a career .300 OBP, that is Mike Jacobs territory.  He has attempted to steal 33 bases and been caught 14 times.  Which is, shall we say, a bit shy of the 70% success rate needed to actually help the team instead of hurting them.

I understand he is young and may one day turn into what you dream him to be.  But nothing he has done in the majors points to that in the present.

Send him to New Orleans, train him, and then let's see what he do in a couple of years.