The Ranger announced after yesterday’s game that infielder/outfielder Jurickson Profar has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock in order to clear a spot on the roster for infielder Pete Kozma, who was claimed off waivers from the Yankees.
The decision to option Profar may be a surprise to some that haven’t followed his season closely. Profar clearly comes with plenty of name value after twice topping Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list a few years ago and homering in his first Major League plate appearances as a 19-year-old back in 2012. However, shoulder injuries wiped out two years of Profar’s career, and he’s followed up a lackluster 2016 season with a dismal start to the 2017 campaign. Through his first 46 plate appearances this season, the switch-hitting Profar mustered just a .135/.289/.135 batting line.
The decision to option Profar, general manager Jon Daniels tells Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, came down to the simple matter that the team did not want him gathering rust on the bench.
“The way the rotation is in left field and the infield right now, with the lack of regular playing time, we felt the time was better spent at Triple-A playing every day,” said Daniels. “We believe he’s capable of more, but he’s just not going to get better sitting on the bench.”
Playing time has been an issue for Profar since returning from his shoulder troubles last season. Elvis Andrus is locked into a long-term deal at Profar’s natural shortstop, while Rougned Odor has broken out as a power-hitting second baseman and been rewarded with a six-year contract of his own. When Adrian Beltre opened the season on the disabled list, the third base role went to Joey Gallo, who has thrived in 2017. Profar was relegated to left field to begin the season, but his anemic performance at the plate ultimately led the Rangers to give Ryan Rua more time there.
Profar’s lack of a defined role on the team has made him a popular trade candidate among speculators over the past year, though it’s currently difficult to imagine his trade value being at a much lower point than it currently resides. Since returning to the Majors in 2016, Profar has batted .227/.317/.314, and though he just turned 24 years old in February, he’s not exactly a highly controllable option, either; Profar entered the 2017 season with three years, 124 days of Major League service time thanks to the fact that he accrued two years of service while on the 60-day disabled list due to his shoulder troubles.
While Grant notes that the demotion temporarily halts Profar’s service clock, it would take a significant amount of time in the minors to prevent him from getting to four years of service in 2017. With 29 days of service time already under his belt this season, Profar would reach four years of service time with just 19 more days at the Major League level. In other words, he’d effectively have to spend almost the rest of the season in Triple-A in order to delay his free agency until the 2020-21 offseason.
Remember when they could of traded him for a superstar…but he was untouchable
Hindsight and all that. Remember when 18 other teams passed on Mike Trout?
Same could be said about Oscar Taveras or any other guy who was a top prospect and isn’t anymore. Seems kind of pointless to bring it up.
Oscar Taveras is an awful example.
why would you choose oscar Tavares as an example of this, really stupid of you
He’s just so informed that he knows Tavares faked his death….. Or dumb.
Or The Cardinals could have traded Taveras for a superstar but didnt, making hindsight 20-20
There was a rumor of a Tavares for Profar trade that was widely talked about shortly after Oscar got promoted to the Cardinals.
“Seems kind of pointless to bring it up”
Clearly, you’re unaware of Oscar Taveras untimely passing…I hope you do apologize for such a statement.
I think it’s fine that he mentions Taveras. Both are guys who had events out of their control cause an end to their prospect status.
Profar and Byron Buston are definitely cautionary tales about #1 prospects
Yes, they could’ve….
Bust.
Because he’s over 30 and hasn’t made it…oh wait….
He hasn’t hit good anywhere since like 2012 though. That’s a lonnnnggggg time ago
You also called Joey Gallo a bust just as late as last season.
I am terrible at the math on this, but, looks like they need to keep him down until 3rd week of August to add a year of control. Right?
He opened the year with three years, 124 days of service time and accrued another 29 days prior to his demotion. That puts him at three years, 153 days. One year of service time is considered 172 days, meaning he needs just 19 more days of service to get to four years.
Thanks.
Bust unfortunately
Another expert who can predict the future of a guy who isn’t even 25 yet.
Profar was the #1 prospect in all of baseball. When you are rated that high and have nothing to show for parts of 4 seasons in the MLB you are a bust. Sorry to break it to you but thats reality. Profar was rated on the same level as trout, seager and benintendi. Profar can still be a good player, but will never be the superstar that he was supposed to be.
Seager or benintendi are no where near the level of trout…
Injuries should be considered
As CompanyAssassin said, neither are nearly as good as Trout. The closest player in the game to Trout’s level is Kershaw, and even he isn’t quite there.
Seager is still a superstar and performs to the hype. Mike trout is a generation talent so its hard to be as good as him. Benintendi so far has shown the hype was deserved
Benintendi wasn’t even the top prospect in Boston… but yeah he’s good
The only guy even close to being in the same class with Trout is Harper but Trout has been far more consistently great. He’s the most talented player to come along in MLB since Josh Hamilton and ARod.
Do the Rangers need a left handed RP who is mediocre and expensive, by chance?
Profar is a player the Pirates should be targeting. Still has upside and can help that awful bench.
Do the Rangers need a switching hitting middle infielder who plays 2B/SS/3B/OF but doesn’t actually do any of those things very well? Oh, wait that’s the guy they just demoted. Still, Alen Hanson is cheaper.
Hanson and Bastardo (or LeBlanc) for Profar? Even close to the ball park?
Profar is actually great defensively
Sloppy wording on my part. I meant he’s an average (below average) player at those positions due to his bat, not knocking his defense specifically. His defense (and upside) is why I would want the Pirates to get him.
Essentially, a high ceiling version of Sean Rodriguez.
I feel that’s a good trade. Swapping a couple of former top prospects and then adding in a reliever that could help them down the road. I’m a bucs fan though so I may be biased.
Feels kind of Raul Mondesi Jr-ish in how they’ve kind of forced the playing time (although Profar has always been a better hitting prospect than Mondesi).. Profar just doesn’t really fit the super utility role they put on him. Good hitter for a middle infielder, but they had better options to fill in corner IF and OF this year and last year.
Send him to Anaheim to play with his countryman up the middle. Help even out that Hamilton contract lol
I never thought I would see Pete Kozma claimed to take the spot of another player let alone Profar. Maybe his birth certificate was forged and he’s 45 years old
he spends a month at AAA and finds his confidence and comes back being awesome. he’s still a very young player. remember, it took a long time for nelson cruz to put it all together and he’s been one of the best power hitters in baseball the last five years. Mike Schmidt hit under 200 his first year. Joey Gallo was HORRIBLE last year in the big leagues but now….he’s been a very pleasant surprise for texas and looks like the type of guy who could be another Adam Dunn—great power hitter who doesn’t hit much for average. but Gallo can run well and is pretty decent defensively. No reason for Texas to have a fire sale on Profar. As has been stated, his value is extremely low right now anyway so why give him away for a rag arm.
The Juice Helped Cruz Until He Got Caught
When you’re so desperate you turn to Pete Kozma..
How many more options does he have?
Now can people stop pushing Profar to the Padres?
Won’t this get the “trade ideas” going even more? Now that the Rangers have sent him down, you would think a trade would be possible. The asking price must be coming down.
I’d take profar over logan forsythe in a heartbeat
Why,why,and again why?
Yeah I don’t understand that…
Best thing the Rangers has done for Jurickson in a long time. He was one of the most talented and exciting young players in the WBC and should not be a supersub at 24. He needs regular at bats to complete development.
I remember a time when Alex Gordon was considered a bust due to injuries and lack of performance due to hype. the royals got another year of control out of by sending him down to the minors, and he became the Alex Gordon we now think of.
Still kind of a bust?
Maybe not perennial super star, but he has or was definitely a quality all star regular. What team doesn’t want that? I feel like people don’t realize development happens through reps and playing time. This should be good for him and the rangers.
They should give him the Roy Halliday treatment–where he goes back to A ball and has to work his way back. It would be good for him I think.
A-ball is too low, but I agree that unless injuries dictate otherwise, he should earn his way back on the roster and not be given a spot after, say, a couple of good at bats.
Halladay was a mechanical mess. They likely don’t send him down to A if it was just performance. They did it because they essentially needed to rebuild him from scratch.
This is the best thing that the rangers could do for everyone involved. Profar needs reps and a spot on the field he is going to occupy. Like stated above, the super utility role is not for him.
Profar falls below the Pete Kozma Line (my sabermetric version of the Mendoza Line) and gets replaced by … Pete Kozma! link to socraticgadfly.blogspot.com
Padres GM loves this kid. SS of the future…we don’t have one in the system.
We do
If that’s true (Preller was in the Rangers system before SD) then it’s smart for the Rangers to have Profar back on track doing well so they could make a deal with the Padres from a position of strenght rather than weakness to get a good return.