First, Izturis is a shortstop, not a third baseman. Aybar was never a passable middle infielder, and Izturis was only forced into action at 3B on an emergency basis (and he left the role once the Dodgers traded for Betemit). Second, only days later, Izturis was traded to the Cubs for Greg Maddux, who helped get the Dodgers in the playoffs. Whether Izturis could have been traded instead of Aybar is irrelevant, because both of them needed to get traded for the Dodgers to make the set of moves they made.