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New York Yankees Interested in Jurickson Profar?

By Michael Cambria

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It’s day two of the 2015 General Manager meetings in Boca Raton, Florida, and according to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, a number of teams have inquired with the Texas Rangers on former number one overall prospect Jurickson Profar, including Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees.

Sherman further reported that he probably won’t be dealt before Spring Training, as the Texas Rangers are looking to get him back to full health and see what he can do back on the field before dealing him.

Profar was the star of the 2004 Little League World Series and the unanimous No. 1 overall prospect in the majors prior to the 2013 season, but shoulder injuries have kept him from playing in the majors over the past two years.

In realtime, Profar is currently serving as a designated hitter in the Arizona Fall League, and according to Sherman, scouts who have seen him say he looks fine and he even slid headfirst into second base in one of his recent games.

The Texas Rangers also have him on a throwing program, and though they originally wanted to let him play the field during Winter Ball, they ultimately decided that he won’t play the infield until Spring Training, where they expect him to be at full health.

With Didi Gregorius at short, the Yankees seemingly have interest in Profar as a second baseman, which is where he played with Texas. However, other teams, including the New York Mets and San Diego Padres envision Profar as a shortstop, and they’ve inquired on him as well. Interestingly enough, Padres GM A.J. Preller was the Head of International Scouting in Texas during the time they signed Profar, and according to Sherman, he was very instrumental in signing the Curacao native back in 2009.

At the end of the day, Profar won’t turn 23 until February and he still has a number of minor league options remaining, so the Rangers aren’t really under pressure to move him.

If any team does end up acquiring Profar – Yankees included, it’ll likely have to be a similar situation to the Josh Donaldson trade last off-season. A GM will need to consistently pester Jon Daniels of the Texas Rangers to the point where they offer him a trade package that he simply won’t be able to refuse.

Even than, it’s not likely Profar is moved.

"“We are not looking to trade him,” Texas GM Jon Daniels told Sherman. “We held onto him this long. We are pretty optimistic his shoulder is fit. The mindset is to wait and see where he is. We believe he will get back to his value, which was one of the best young players out there.”"

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