Padres may not be done at second after Jurickson Profar acquisition

With the departure of highly touted prospect Luis  Urias in last week’s trade, the San Diego Padres left themselves with a dilemma at second base for 2020.

Sure, there are multiple highly rated prospects in the minor league system that should one day give the San Diego Padres their second basemen to pair with Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. But who plays the position in 2020? Maybe even 2021?

General Manager AJ Preller took one step closer to answering that question on Monday with the acquisition of former Rangers top prospect Jurickson Profar.

The non-tender deadline stimulated trade activity all over MLB with the Padres jumping in to help resolve one of their biggest offseason questions.

Watching Profar play for the Rangers in 2018, one could be caught salivating over his skills. A switch-hitting infielder with good defensive movements and a strong arm, Profar also possessed enough power to keep pitchers honest.

Slashing .254/.335/.458 with 20 homers in 2018, his age 24 season, Profar was surprisingly traded to the Oakland Athletics in the offseason.

His 2019 did not impress.

Apparently acquiring a case of the yips early in the season, Profar had 13 errors at second base in 2019. He also struggled at the plate with a .218/.304/.410 batting line in 518 plate appearances.

This underwhelming performance going into his last arbitration-eligible season seems to have made him expendable for the A’s.

AJ Preller once again falls back on his Ranger days to trade for a player he is familiar with and helped acquire for Texas.

The Padres sent catcher Austin Allen and a player to be named later in the exchange. Allen is a bat first, power-hitting catcher with defensive liabilities, not unlike Francisco Mejia. Not someone that figured into the Padres future.

So the silver lining to Profar’s 2018?

His batting line versus lefties — .305/.378/.457. Even if he is unable to return to his 2018 form there is value in a platoon with utility infielder Greg Garcia.

Garcia hit .254/.320/.373 versus righties last season with a .743 OPS.

If Profar responds well to a change of scenery and coaching the Padres could catch lightning in a bottle to bridge them to the second baseman of the future.

Who is that 2B of the future?

I have my own take on that, but it is safe to say that none of them will be beginning the season as the starter.

Of the four prospects in the system who are likely to be available to fill second base for the foreseeable future, none is as exciting to me as Xavier Edwards.

Others might be ready sooner but he has the highest upside and skills. At 20 years old, Edwards completed the 2019 season with Lake Elsinore with a .322/.375/.396 slash line and .771 OPS.

The #5 Padres prospect as ranked by MLB.com, Edwards is an advanced contact hitter with speed and strong defensive skills. He projects as a top of the order hitter with switch-hitting capability. But the ETA of 2022 does not put him in the Padres plans for the near future.

Owen Miller, the #10 prospect, finished last season with the Amarillo Sod Poodles and could be major league ready in 2020 but the Padres can’t afford to count on a rookie to come in and succeed immediately.

That was clearly demonstrated by Luis Urias both in 2018 and 2019. Miller, at 23 years old, is a plus runner and contact hitter with an average arm who hit .290/.355/.430 last season with a .785 OPS.

The other two top prospects, Tucupita Marcano and Esteury Ruiz, are both 20 years old and too far away in their development to know if the Padres have a major league player in either of them.

Marcano possesses the best tools at this point, with plus speed and contact ability.

Ruiz is raw and undisciplined with plus speed. It will be a year or two before it can be determined if he will develop into a real player, and that’s if he isn’t taken in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.