Padres re-sign IF/OF Jurickson Profar to a three-year deal
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego Padres and Jurickson Profar agreed to a three-year deal.
Jurickson Profar picked the perfect season to have a breakout year. He also just happened to be on the perfect team.
In an offseason where transactions have been made at a snail-like pace, the San Diego Padres and A.J. Preller have made a flurry of moves to take advantage of both a slow-developing market and owners who have cried poor after the 2020 season.
The Padres continued to remain active while pushing their payroll to the limits, as Jeff Passan reports that Profar and San Diego have reached a three-year, $21 million deal. The deal contains an opt-out clause after the first two seasons.
IF/OF Jurickson Profar and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a three-year, $21 million contract, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 22, 2021
Acquired during the 2019 offseason from the Oakland Athletics for Austin Allen and a player to be named later (revealed to be Buddy Reed ten days later), Profar was expected to serve as a utility man the bench before an injury to Tommy Pham thrust him into a starting role.
Profar responded by having perhaps the best year of his career. In 56 games, Profar batted .278/.343/.428 with a career-best 111 wRC+.
Before the aforementioned injury to Pham, Profar saw a majority of his time at second base but, after the emergence of Jake Cronenworth, moved to the outfield grass. Statistically, he was stronger in the outfield as he posted a DRS of 4 and a 14.7 UZR/150. Profar is also capable of playing everywhere on the field as he has spent time at all positions except catcher and pitcher.
The breakout season does come with an asterisk next to it, thanks to the shortened 2020 season, so Profar will have to show that he can continue to produce at an above-average level. He did start the season on a slump while ranked in the 23rd percentile or worse in terms of exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and barrel rate, per Statcast.
The three-year deal, however, shows that San Diego believes that Profar can continue to provide above-average production while being a positive light in the clubhouse.
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3 years? Mistake. A couple of hot weeks last year and Preller throws a 3 year deal at him. And the club still doesn’t have a 4th OF.
Seems like an overpay but there were some underlining reasons for this signing- He was a very popular teammate last year, his friendship with Tatis cannot be overstated, multiple positions. The Padres are building a team to compete with the Dodgers- lots of SP, players who can play multiple positions. Let’s hope Profar is the player he was the last part of last year. Go Padres!
Wow, on one hand that is great to add better than average players, yet this was an overpay. But they are paying the bills, and apparently not letting money get in the way too much. This also is, on smaller scale, eerily similar to Hosmer’s bad contract. There was virtually no competition, other than the Royals, and so Preller likely was bidding against himself, and he gave a contract that was very advantageous-to-the-player-not-the-team.
San Diego had competition for Profar. Boston was reportedly pushing hard for Profar until he resigned with the Padres
I thing Preller paid waaayyy too much for Profar. I have to believe he’s got the go ahead to spend more on a closer. Otherwise, this could have gone to Rosenthal.
Profar has never proven himself for a season in the Bigs. When they threw him in left field last year, he struggled with catchable balls. He misplayed a few balls, especially if the wall came into play. He does not have an arm for the outfield so he’ll be a defensive liability.
Sometimes, it seems like AJ is just in a hurry and willing to overpay because it’s not his money. I hope this doesn’t prove to be our roster spot that needs to be fixed at the trade deadline.
Overall… maybe he’s Tatis’s pacifier but I don’t think this filled that roster spot well.