Padres have their answer at second base after trading for Juriskcon Profar

A.J. Preller continues to stay busy having found his replacement at second base for the San Diego Padres by trading for Jurickson Profar.

After the San Diego Padres traded away Luis Urias, you knew it was only a matter of time before A.J. Preller found his replacement.

What we didn’t know is if it would be a short-term solution until some of the young guys came up, or a longer-term solution.

Well, we got our answer on Monday after he traded for Jurickson Profar from the Oakland Athletics.

In return, the Padres are sending catcher Austin Allen and a player to be named later to Oakland, according to Jeff Pasan of ESPN.

Profar is in his final year of arbitration and is projected to make $5.8 million for the 2020 season, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

That’s a pretty significant contract to take on when you consider the Padres still haven’t addressed starting pitching. And unless you think Trent Grisham is the “truth” they really haven’t addressed the outifeld either.

The 26-year-old (will be 27 in February) Profar will be a short-term solution for the Padres at second base.

But he’s been good enough that he can help San Diego stay competitive in 2020.

Profar had a down year in 2019 when he hit just .218 with a .301 OBP in 139 games. But he has now hit 20 home runs in back-to-back seasons.

Two years ago he had his best season when he hit .254 with a .335 OBP to go along with 82 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.

FanGraphs ranks him as an average defender, but he’s capable of playing pretty much anywhere on the infield.

This is a bit of an upside play for Preller. He’s banking on Profar having a bounce-back season in a contract year before he hits free agency.

At the same time, if Profar doesn’t perform it’s not like he’ll be blocking the guys behind him from getting a chance.

And it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw another move this offseason for second base.