Curaçao infielder Jurickson Profar has been traded by the Oakland Athletics to the San Diego Padres. Since the Athletics have stockpiled middle infielders, the trade is understandable. It will open things up for Sheldon Neuse, Jorge Mateo, and Franklin Barreto to possibly move up in the ranks.
Profar was acquired in a three-way trade from the Texas Rangers during the previous offseason. Last season, Profar struggled with the Athletics. He batted a sub-par .218 but also made several miscues as he made throwing errors when firing the ball from second base to first.
Profar was about to make $6 million in arbitration, a price they were not willing to pay. That explains the trade to San Diego. Oakland will receive catcher Austin Allen and a player to be named later in return.
With San Diego’s trade of Luis Urias, there is a void to be filled at second base. Once the No. 1 overall prospect, Profar has proven himself healthy after a pair of shoulder surgeries that wiped out two full seasons of his developmental years, but he’s yet to break out as a clear-cut big leaguer. In 2018 with Texas, he batted 254/.335/.458 but saw those numbers drop dramatically in 2019.
Notable detail is that the current Padres’ GM, A.J. Preller was assistant GM with Texas during Profar’s time there.
After breaking into professional baseball in 2010, Profar was called up to the Bigs in 2012 already. Since then spent time in the Major Leagues but was sent down several times. Eventually, he spent the past two full seasons in the Majors.
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