Texas Rangers trade rumors: Jurickson Profar to Dodgers discussed

Texas Rangers trade rumors: Jurickson Profar to the Los Angeles Dodgers has been discussed by the Rangers and Dodgers, according to Ken Rosenthal. The Dodgers are casting a wide net in their search for a second baseman, having engaged with the Minnesota Twins on Brian Dozier and the Detroit Tigers on Ian Kinsler, so Rosenthal saying that the Dodgers have spoken with the Rangers on Profar isn’t surprising.

I’ve said throughout the offseason that Profar to the Dodgers makes some sense, as it allows the Dodgers a young, controllable player with upside, and gives them someone much less expensive than, say, Kinsler, and less costly in terms of talent given up than Dozier. The problem, I suspect, is that the Dodgers have a lot of options, and I tend to think they are not looking to pay a premium price for Profar, while the Rangers are going to be looking to get value comparable to what a cheap, good everyday second baseman would fetch.

Its the ongoing issue with Profar...he hasn’t played enough, or played well enough, to build his trade value up to what the Rangers think it should be, but the Rangers don’t have a way to get him regular playing time in the middle infield. And with three years of team control left, Profar is getting ever closer to free agency, and the shorter the window of team control with Profar is, the less value he has.

So I’m sure the Rangers talked to the Dodgers about some of their young major league starting pitching -- Jose DeLeon, I’m sure, came up — and the Dodgers demurred on parting with a top young pitching prospect for an unproven middle infielder who missed two key years of development. And Profar will likely start the season with the Rangers, backing up the infield spots, playing some first base and DH, and being kept in limbo while the Rangers either get blown away by a trade offer, or decide it is time to cut bait and move on from Profar.