Jurickson Profar Will Not Play in the World Baseball Classic

decided not to play in the World Baseball Classic with the Netherlands. Instead he will compete for an Opening Day roster spot with the Texas Rangers. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Jurickson Profar, who turns 20 on Wednesday, has decided to forgo the chance to play in the 2013 World Baseball Classic for the Netherlands according to Richard Durrett of ESPN. He had been wavering back and forth as to whether to play or not since he was getting a lot of pressure from home to play.

Profar, widely considered the top prospect in baseball, has the chance to make the opening day lineup of the Texas Rangers. The team has a utility spot open, but the big question is whether he will start the year getting to play every day at Triple-A Round Rock or not.

With Elvis Andrus playing for Venezuela in the WBC, Profar stands to get a lot of playing time over the next few weeks in the Cactus League.

So now the questions remains, what the Rangers will do with Profar at the start of the season? What we do know is that Profar will be in Surprise with the Rangers for the next six weeks competing to make the lineup.

As for the Dutch squad, this doesn’t mean they will still not contend, but it takes a little bit away from its lineup. There is still a lot of good young talent on the team mixed in with a few veterans. The Dutch team has been in Arizona playing some exhibition games to prepare for their first round of the WBC to be played in Taiwan.