Texas Rangers Offseason Trade Candidate: Jurickson Profar

Is Jurickson Profar destined for a trade this offseason or are the Texas Rangers stuck with an unsatisfied former top prospect?

The Texas Rangers unloaded several big pieces at this year’s trade deadline. Ace Yu Darvish went to to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy joined him in the NL West following a trade to the Colorado Rockies. Even after unloading two big name players, the Rangers have more men to swap.

Former number one prospect Jurickson Profar is someone the Rangers must shop this winter. They don’t have a role for him other than utility man off the bench. Another organization could use him more regularly and allow this once highly-touted prospect an opportunity to shine.

Profar’s poor health and inconsistent MLB at-bats deserve the majority of the blame. More so, it’s the countless times he was sidetracked. By the time Profar could get healthy, the Rangers struck gold with Rougned Odor. Elvis Andrus has also stabilized shortstop and Joey Gallo looks ready to take over at one of the corner positions on the infield.

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One challenge the Rangers face is convincing a team to take on a possibly already combusted player. When Profar wasn’t moved at the trade deadline, he voiced the frustration. In response, Profar was benched for a day. This attitude won’t convince many teams to call the Rangers about what it would take to pry him away.

It’s beginning to look more and more like Profar is a “Four-A” player. He’s hitting well at Triple-A this season with a batting average near .300 and an OBP at around .400. He put up similar numbers last season one step below the big leagues as well.

While with the Rangers, Profar has not been nearly as productive.

This season was especially poor for Profar. He hit only .172 in 70 trips to the plate. For his MLB career, he’s now just a .229 hitter.

Where could the Rangers trade Profar?

The sky’s the limit when it comes to possible trade destination for Profar. A team looking for something fresh would want him. A team with room on the bench, ready to experiment could too. I wouldn’t want to limit Profar to a contender or a team with no intention of competing.

The only limitation with Profar is that he has already reached his arbitration years. Anyone who acquires him will need to feel he can impact the team positively. They will probably need to guarantee him MLB at-bats if only to save themselves from getting into a similar position that the Rangers have.

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Profar is a low-risk, high-reward type of player many organizations should at least consider. The Rangers won’t ask for much in return. With some confidence and chances, he could finally turn into the stud many thought he could become.