Jurickson Profar optioned to Round Rock

The Texas Rangers have optioned Jurickson Profar to AAA Round Rock, per John Blake on Twitter. This opens up a 25 man roster spot for Pete Kozma, who was claimed earlier today.

Its one thing to talk about how Profar’s star has fallen, and another thing to actually type that Profar is being sent down so Pete Kozma can be on the active roster. Profar was the guy whose presence made Ian Kinsler — one of the best Rangers of all time — expendable, who was the #1 prospect in baseball, who had fans clamoring to trade Elvis Andrus so that there’d be a spot for him.

And now? Now we have Profar, 24 years old, heading back to AAA after failing to seize the left field job when the opportunity arose. Jon Daniels says that this is about getting Jurickson regular at bats to improve, and I think that’s the case, but I also tend to think that, barring someone who plays the infield on the major league roster getting injured, we won’t be seeing Profar in a major league uniform again.

Missing two years of development time in your early 20s is a killer. Hopefully the Rangers get a decent return for him this summer, and he gets a chance somewhere else to see if he can be a starting major league shortstop.