MLB Trade Rumors: Jurickson Profar to the San Diego Padres

MLB Trade Rumors: Jurickson Profar has been sent to the San Diego Padres from the Oakland A’s, per multiple reports. Profar, 26, is in his final year of arbitration-eligibility prior to becoming a free agent, and was seen as a potential candidate to be non-tendered by the A’s if he was not traded.

Profar was one of the top prospects in baseball with the Texas Rangers before a shoulder injury cost him virtually all of the 2014 and 2015 seasons. After a mediocre 2016 campaign, he spent most of 2017 in the minors, but had a very nice 2018 season for Texas, as he put up a .254/.335/458 slash line in 594 plate appearances while playing all the infield positions.

The Rangers sent Profar to Oakland last offseason in a three-way deal with Tampa Bay that had the A’s sending Eli White and international slot bonus money to the Rangers and Emilio Pagan and a competitive balance draft pick to the Rays. Profar disappointed with the bat in 2019, however, slashing .218/.301/.410, and also had issues for much of the season with his throws, seeming at certain points to be suffering from the yips.

I have not seen any indication as to what Oakland is getting from San Diego in this deal, but I suspect it will be nominal. The Padres have been speculated to be a landing spot for Profar for years, as A.J. Preller, who left the Rangers late in 2014 to join the Padres as their general manager, was involved in signing Profar and has long been a fan of his. Profar will presumably be playing second base for the Padres in 2020, displacing former Ranger Ian Kinsler, who started 63 games at second base in 2019 after signing a two year deal with San Diego last offseason.

UPDATE — Jeff Passan says that the A’s are getting catcher Austin Allen and a player to be named later from the Padres for Profar. Allen, who turns 26 in January, put up a .215/.282/.277 slash line in 71 plate appearances for the Padres last year. He’s a 2015 4th round pick who has shown some power in the minors.