Padres: Should the team try to bring back Jurickson Profar?

The San Diego Padres might want to try to bring back Jurickson Profar for 2021.

While the San Diego Padres have a solid everyday lineup, they could use some depth. Jurickson Profar, somewhat quietly, had a nice season for the Padres in 2020, and though he’s a free agent now, he would provide that depth if he can pick up where he left off in 2020. In a lot of ways, then, a reunion between the two sides makes a lot of sense.

Last offseason, the Padres acquired Profar in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, where he spent the 2019 campaign after parts of five years in Texas with the Rangers. Profar, who will be just 28 next season, was coming off a season with the A’s in which he hit 20 home runs for the second straight year but only batted .218.

However, in 2020 he had perhaps his best season. He raised his batting average from .218 to .278 and his OPS from .711 to .771, and overall was good for a 1.4 WAR. He started the season at second base, which was the position he had played the most, yet when Jake Cronenworth took off Profar started seeing a lot of action in left field, as Tommy Pham DHed a lot and struggled with injuries.

As far as defense goes, Profar only made one error in his limited time at second base in 2020, after he made 13 in 2019, and didn’t make any errors while playing left field. While his range factor was below league average, he was worth four defensive runs saved above average, according to Baseball Reference.

Regardless of what Pham does in 2021, or whether the NL uses the DH, Profar would add a lot of depth both with his bat and with his ability to play multiple positions. The fact that he switch-hits makes him that much more valuable, and while it’s unclear exactly how much he’ll make as a free agent, he was a relative bargain this past year at $5.7 million.

What do you think, Padres fans? Should the team try to bring Jurickson Profar back for 2021? Let us know!