Texas Rangers rumors: Jurickson Profar unhappy, put on d.l.

Texas Rangers rumors: Jurickson Profar was out of the Round Rock Express lineup yesterday amid discussions that the Rangers were looking to trade the shortstop. However, the 3 p.m. trade deadline came and went today, and Profar is still with the Rangers organization. Evan Grant said a little earlier he’s hearing Profar “expressed unhappiness” over not being traded.

Well, in a follow up to that, the Round Rock Express announced today that Profar had been placed on the disabled list. One may not unreasonably ask whether the d.l. is over something significant and physical, or whether this is a matter of the organization not liking the way Profar is handling being stuck here in Texas, where he has no path to a major league job.

There’s no good solution to the Profar situation right now for the Rangers. Profar is a free agent after the 2019 season, and has not established himself as a viable major leaguer, so the market for him isn’t going to be all that great. A rebuilding team isn’t going to want to give up value for him, given he only has two years of team control left after this one, and a playoff contender is going to be leery of relying on him. Profar has expressed a desire to be a shortstop, and the “super-utility” role the Rangers were using to shoehorn him into the lineup in the majors doesn’t appear to be working for him.

Its a mess, and unless the Rangers end up dealing Elvis Andrus as part of a major overhaul this offseason, Profar appears to have no future in Texas, while no other major league team appears inclined to give up significant value to acquire him and make him their shortstop. One would assume the Rangers will have to move him this offseason, but then, one would have said the same thing last offseason, and this trade deadline.

So with no resolution in sight, and a (reportedly) unhappy Profar on the disabled list, we shall have to see how this plays out.