Cesar Izturis turned his left ankle in Orioles camp Monday and will miss the next few days.

Izturis doesn't believe the injury to be serious. If that's the case, he should be back out on the field by the end of this week. The light-hitting 31-year-old will serve as a backup middle infielder in 2011 for Baltimore.

Orioles re-signed Cesar Izturis to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.

There are also playing time incentives built in. It's interesting the Orioles wanted him back given that they just acquired both a shortstop (J.J. Hardy) and a utility infielder (Brendan Harris). Izturis is expected to compete with Harris for that utility job, and it's probably not a given that both make the final roster. Harris did spend part of the 2010 season in the minors.

According to MASN's Jen Royle, the Orioles are interested in bringing back Cesar Izturis as a utility infielder.

Izturis is no longer in the mix for the shortstop job with the acquisition of J.J. Hardy, but it sounds like the O's still want him back as a bench player. It's unlikely Izturis will be able to find a starting job anywhere, so the interest might be mutual. He can't hit a lick but is still very capable with the glove.

Cesar Izturis went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBI in Tuesday's 5-4 victory over the Yankees.

He almost went from hero to goat, as a ninth inning error gave New York life. Alas, the Orioles pulled out the win and Izturis gets a good amount of credit for plating three teammates. The light-hitting shortstop now owns a .259/.310/.296 line this season and, as always, isn't recommended for any format.