It’s a little bit of an early birthday current for Profar, who turns 31 subsequent week. His profession has been extraordinarily up and down, one thing that MLBTR lined in 2022. Final yr was one other downswing on that sine wave, with 2023 his worst season to this point.
He opted out of his earlier take care of the Padres on the finish of 2022, taking the $1M buyout as a substitute of the $7.5M wage. He lingered onto the market till the center of March however did ultimately get a one-year, $7.75M deal from the Rockies, narrowly edging out the cash he left on the desk.
The transfer to Colorado didn’t swimsuit Profar. His 18.2 p.c strikeout charge and 9.5 p.c stroll charge had been fairly near his profession norms, however he hit simply eight residence runs in 472 plate appearances. Given the expectations of the hitter-friendly setting at Coors Discipline, his tepid .236/.316/.364 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of simply 72.
His protection was graded poorly as effectively, and the Rockies launched him in August. He returned to the Padres late within the yr and completed sturdy, however in a small pattern of simply 14 video games. FanGraphs thought of him to be two wins under substitute on the yr whereas Baseball Reference had him at -1.3 WAR.
Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was a key determine within the Rangers’ worldwide scouting division when Profar initially signed and was ultimately ranked the highest prospect in all of baseball. A number of shoulder surgical procedures have derailed his trajectory, however Profar has nonetheless proven inconsistent flashes of strong MLB manufacturing and Preller clearly nonetheless holds an affinity for him. This will probably be his fifth season suiting up for the Padres, for whom he carries a .246/.334/.376 batting line in 1321 plate appearances relationship again to 2020.
From the staff’s vantage level, Profar helps to fill a dire want for outfielders. Previous to this signing, San Diego solely had two outfielders on the 40-man roster: Fernando Tatis Jr. and light-hitting Jose Azocar. They’ve additionally been working prime shortstop prospect Jackson Merrill out in left area and will think about the 20-year-old as an outfield possibility sooner or later this season, ought to that experiment go easily, although because it stands Merrill has performed simply 46 video games on the Double-A degree and has not but performed a single recreation in Triple-A.
The Friars have additionally been working to chop payroll all through the offseason, so securing Profar at barely greater than the league minimal certainly held attraction. Profar no less than offers the Padres three large league outfielders on the 40-man roster, however his signing possible doesn’t rule out the addition of one other extra notable signing/acquisition who may push the 27-year-old Azocar right into a fourth outfield position for which he’s higher suited.
With Profar added to the fold, San Diego’s payroll now sits at a projected $159M, per Roster Useful resource — greater than $90M south of final yr’s franchise-record $255M mark. The Padres have about $215M value of projected luxurious tax concerns, nonetheless.
In all chance, there are nonetheless some additions to be made by the Padres between now and Opening Day. Their outfield depth stays perilously skinny, and so they’ve reportedly been exploring each the commerce and free-agent markets for tactics to vary that. Crimson Sox outfielder Jarren Duran is reportedly one potential goal.
The Padres even have questions within the fourth and fifth spots of their rotation, behind prime starters Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Michael King. In-house choices embrace Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe, Matt Waldron, Pedro Avila, Jay Groome and Glenn Otto, amongst others, however the Padres are additionally nonetheless wanting into the decrease tiers of free company. They reportedly have some curiosity in Noah Syndergaard and in Michael Lorenzen.