Texas Rangers leave third base hole gaping wide trading Jurickson Profar
The Texas Rangers have seen a future Hall of Fame third baseman and a former #1 prospect leave via trade. Now what will they do at the hot corner?!
When Adrian Beltre announced his retirement, the general consensus around the league was that former elite prospect Jurickson Profar would take over at third base for the Texas Rangers. After struggling with shoulder issues for multiple years, Profar had broken through in 2018, showing his shoulder was healthy and his bat was definitely what was advertised as he was coming up through the minor leagues.
Then the Texas Rangers moved Profar to the Oakland Athletics on Friday in a three-team deal that also involved the Tampa Bay Rays. That leaves a significant hole for the Rangers to fill.
Currently, the Texas Rangers only have two recently acquired players listed on the depth chart by Roster Resource at third base. Patrick Wisdom would be the seeming starter currently after being acquired via trade this offseason, while the current backup would be Jack Reinheimer, who was claimed on waivers in November.
There were some who thought perhaps that slugger Joey Gallo could move to the hot corner, the position he manned as he climbed the minor league ladder, but he is not to be moving back to the dirt – at least not on the left side of the infield, per a report from the Star-Telegram.
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There are a few intriguing options in the minor leagues that would likely require some patience with a player either learning the position or taking some lumps offensively this year. Two are former Texas Rangers signings out of Cuba, Yanio Perez and Andy Ibanez. Perez played nearly even innings between first and third in 2018 with high-A and AA, but health has limited him to just 182 games over two seasons in the Rangers system, where he’s hit .261/.328/.389.
Ibanez was a second baseman with a gap power swing that was moved to third base over the course of 2018. He has played primarily third base in the Dominican Winter League this winter. He is not going to hit for a ton of home runs, but he hit .283/.344/.410 with 21 doubles and 12 home runs over 125 games and 515 plate appearances in AAA in 2018, and his bat certainly could handle at least some level of production, just not a ton of power that is usually associated with the position.
Finally, part of the package acquired for Profar, Eli White, had a breakout season for the Oakland A’s system. He really fits more as a middle infielder, likely at second base, but after hitting .306/.388/.450 at AA in 2018, he was impressive in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .344/.406/.459. He won’t likely hit many home runs either, but like Ibanez, his gap power and high contact rate could be enough offense to let his defense carry him at the position.
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There are always a few other options that the Texas Rangers could pursue in the free agent market, but if one of these five is the 2019 third baseman for the Rangers, it would be one of the largest drop-offs in recent memory from one season to the next at a position for a team.