On December 21, the Oakland A’s acquired 25-year-old infielder Jurickson Profar from the Texas Rangers, as part of a three-team trade that included Oakland, Texas, and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Profar is a former top prospect, as he debuted with the Rangers in 2012, and spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons on the disabled list and in the minor leagues. Last season was Profar’s first full-year in the Majors, and it was indeed a breakout season. After failing to hit .240 in each of his first four seasons, he batted .254 with 20 homers, 77 RBI, .269 BABIP, .204 ISO, .341 wOBA and 108 wRC+. After showing what he can do when given a full-time job, the A’s made the move to acquire him, and he will now be Oakland’s second baseman of the future. Profar is arbitration-eligible through 2021, and he and the Athletics have already agreed to an amount of $3.6 million for next season.
With Jed Lowrie being a free agent, the A’s looked for other options at second base, and they were able to cross it off the list with this acquisition. With Profar putting together a productive season when playing full-time in 2018, it’s likely that he’ll be playing a similar amount with the A’s in 2019. However, Oakland also has 22-year-old second baseman Franklin Barreto, another former top prospect, who may also receive a decent amount of playing time.
However the A’s decide to play Profar, which will likely be full-time at second base, it appears we can expect similar productivity from him next season. Like Barreto, he’s shown the ability to be a solid piece of the lineup when getting consistent playing time, so we’ll see if he can repeat his success in 2019, but this time playing for the Oakland Athletics.
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