Rangers kept hold of Profar through thick and thin. Why they should keep holding on
Jurickson Profar will enter a season for the first time in his career with a role as an everyday player, and it’s a tall task as the Texas Rangers replace third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Profar, though, showed that he’s a capable MLB player in 2018, posting a .793 OPS thanks to 20 homers, 61 extra-base hit, 54 walks and 12 times being hit by a pitch. The glaring deficiency was his 25 errors, 11 at third base and many on throws.
But all the good the Rangers saw in Profar in the minor leagues, before his shoulder gave way and cost him two seasons, showed up last season. The belief is that he’s going to continue to get better.
Other teams have seen all of that, too, and one theory that has been floated this week at the MLB winter meetings is Profar might be attractive to one of the teams that misses out on Manny Machado.
It’s sound theory. The Rangers could trade a controllable player who is at his peak post-injury value for multiple prospects to add to the rebuild. Throw in the acquisition of Patrick Wisdom, a good-fielding, power-hitting, athletic corner infielder, and maybe the Rangers have some cushion to trade Profar.
It’s plausible, as is the Oakland A’s reported interest in Profar to be their second baseman if they can’t re-sign Jed Lowrie.
Profar, though, is the shining example of what is supposed to happen to a player given a chance in a rebuild. He’s supposed to develop and become a quality major-leaguer, and Profar is doing that.
It comes after years of the Rangers holding onto him despite all of his injuries woes and all of his ups and downs as he dealt with being blocked by Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor at shortstop at second base.
Maybe Profar, who has two years of arbitration remaining before hitting free agency, isn’t the long-term answer at third base, but maybe he’s the long-term answer at shortstop if Andrus opts out of his contract after next season.
Maybe the Rangers have finally figured out how to keep Profar in a super-utility role that allows him to play every day.
The farm system is really thin (really, really thin) at third base.
They have seen now what it looks like when he plays every day. It looked good in 2018, even with the defensive concerns, and general manager Jon Daniels conceded Tuesday that he isn’t sure if Wisdom, who has spent the majority of his career in the minors, is ready to be a big-league regular.
Trade Profar now?
The Rangers should extend him.
This story was originally published December 12, 2018 at 1:24 PM.
