If you’ve been following Major League Baseball top prospects for even just a few years, you will know the name of Jurickson Profar. He was a highly touted prospect for a reason. On his 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects card, you could see Jurickson simply oozing with talent. The smile on his face as he takes a practice swing in the photo screams a guy that just loves to play some baseball.

But, Profar didn’t get to play nearly as much baseball as he, the Rangers, baseball fans, and card collectors would’ve liked. Injury after injury kept eating into his playing time. When he would try to get a chance in the majors, he just couldn’t put things together before yet again losing a chunk of the season to some injury. Eventually, he finally got to play a full season, even if it took until 2018...

So, when he finally broke out with the Texas Rangers in 2018, it still felt like a disappointment. To hit .254 with 20 HR and 77 RBI - and stealing 10 bases WITHOUT being caught - would be a pretty nice season for most players. After years of getting hurt and not really establishing himself in his limited chances, 2018 was a nice break for Profar. He played all over the diamond, while mostly at third base and shortstop. Unfortunately, he didn’t rate well at any position on defense.


A Second Chance for Jurickson Profar?

The Rangers decided that they would sell high on Profar’s decent success with the bat and on the bases. They let him go to the Oakland A’s in a three team trade that netted them pitchers Kyle Bird and Brock Burke, as well as minor league infielder Eli White. Ironically, White is somewhat similar to what Profar has become - a guy without a position who’s useful enough with the bat and on the bases to have a role with some MLB team. Bird and Burke each had lousy MLB debuts, but both showed promise in the high minors.

The A’s were certainly disappointed in their return. They ended up trading Emilio Pagan and a competitive balance round draft pick to the Rays in the complex three team swap.  Profar hit only .218/.301/.410 and was "worth" minus 10 runs at second base. Meanwhile, Emilio Pagan was one of the best relievers in baseball for the Rays. The Rangers are probably thrilled that they got what they did.

There were some positives. Profar still hit 20 HR. He stole 9 bases and was only caught once. The switch-hitter murdered left handed pitching.  His batting average on balls in play was a piddly .218. Surely, you’d expect Profar to have a bit of positive regression, right?



A Third Chance for Profar with the Padres?

Being one of the most cost-conscious organizations in the league - to put it nicely - the A’s decided that they would cut bait on Profar. While a projection arbitration salary of $5.8 million is hardly awful for a guy who will likely perform closer to his 2018 than his 2019 results, the A’s decided to move on. They decided to swap their struggling infielder for catcher Austin Allen and a player to be named later. 


After their trade of Luis Urias to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Padres had a three-way fight for playing time at second. Ian Kinsler was terrible in 2019. Greg Garcia is a useful utility Infielder quite likely stretched in full time duty. Ty France had monster AAA numbers and was the guy with the most upside. But, you can't blame the Padres for wanting somebody with Profar's pedigree.

Padres GM A.J. Preller is quite familiar with Profar from his days in the Texas front office. While the familiarity is certainly a factor, it's not like there wasn't a use for him. His Steamer projection for 2020 alone makes him a clear starter at second base even with his fielding difficulties.

Steamer 2020 Projection (125 games): .250/.331/.431, 18 HR, 67 R, 64 RBI, 7 SB

Because of his propensity for injury, his projection accounts for at least some missed time. But even if that time, FanGraphs has him bring worth 2.2 WAR. That's a slightly above average player. Going into his age 27 season and being projected to earn $5.8 million through arbitration is fine for the Padres. The A's just wanted to move on.

What did the Padres give up? Austin Allen didn’t impress in his major league debut, but scouts project him to grow into more of his raw power. He could be a nice find for the A’s, for sure, even if he’s just their third catcher at the moment. He’s not nothing, although a very underwhelming return considering what a star Profar was expected to be.


The good news for Profar is that he definitely has a starting job with the Padres. If he can get his throwing issues under control, he could be at least a passable defensive second baseman. As even a slightly below average fielder, his bat and speed are still good enough tools to make him a 3 WAR player. It would be good to see him hit the ball harder with more consistency. But, in just 2019, his expected wOBA was .323 VS his actual .301 wOBA was enough of a gap to show he was unlucky.

Will Profar reemerge in the baseball card hobby? Right now, it doesn’t seem like he will. It's highly unlikely he suddenly becomes a 30 HR & 100 RBI stud out of nowhere. Could he finally have some good batted ball luck and put together a really nice year, though? There may be some untapped potential there yet. In any case, it’s easy to like this trade for the Padres.

The White Sox are going all in this year. The  acquisitions of first baseman Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, and David Robertson (very solid closer, even if they paid him a bit much) have already showed their intentions at  making a run at what could be a wide open American League Central in 2015. LaRoche  is still a good hitter with some defensive value at first base. Zach Duke is a very strong left handed reliever, who although I was surprised got three years, deserved the attention he got. David Robertson is a very solid closer, and while I feel they overpaid, they have likely solidified the back end of their bullpen for at least the next four years. 

The White Sox definitely needed another starting pitcher, though. When I first heard the rumors that the White Sox were going after a one-year rental of Jeff "Shark" Samardzija, though, I was a bit perplexed. But after seeing what the Athletics got for him, I love this trade for the White Sox. They even get the upside of young right-handed pitcher Michael Ynoa on top of renting "Shark" for a year. In return, the White Sox give up their backup catcher in Josh Phegley, a decent arm in Chris Bassitt (whose control is a bit iffy but has upside), a utility infielder in Marcus Semien, and a decent hitting prospect in Rangel Ravelo.

While the A's got a decent haul for a rental, I still love this for the White Sox. It's an OK return for a team like the A's who are clearly going for a quick rebuild, though. It's going to save the A's at least $9 million in salary arbitration. But for the White Sox, they get a chance to sandwich Shark in between Chris Sale (one of the best pitchers in baseball) and the ever-underrated Jose Quintana. They have a couple other decent arms in that rotation, as well, but this takes some pressure off of their developing young starters. GM Rick Hahn is doing a great job with this South Side team makeover. Oakland GM Billy Beane is just continuing his fire sale, but I like THIS return better than the returns for Josh Donaldson and especially Brandon Moss.

On top of their other acquisitions, this move makes the White Sox look very good going into next season. I don't think they'll miss Bassitt too much, although he has back-end of the rotation potential and probably bullpen help at worst. Though Ravelo may be something, it will be likely a couple years before he makes an impact. He's probably the best player in the deal. Phegley is a nice back-up catcher with power, but the White Sox gained catcher Rob Brantly off of waivers, so he became expendable.

The Tigers are getting older with several positions in flux. The Twins are a mess. The Royals could still be fairly good and the Indians look better. But this could be quite a race now with all of the talent the White Sox have added. It's been 10 years since the White Sox last won the World Series. Why not go for it now?


What do you think of the White Sox going forward?