Sam Hodde/Associated Press

Jurickson Profar Traded to A's in 3-Way Move with Rays Involving Prospects

Kyle Newport

The Texas Rangers have traded infielder Jurickson Profar to the Oakland Athletics in a three-team deal that includes the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan.

Per Passan:

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal further detailed the trade:

Click to expand figure....

Profar signed with Texas as an international free agent in 2009 and ultimately worked his way into one of the organization's top prospects. However, he has gotten off to a slow start in the big leagues, hitting .240 in 352 appearances for Texas. He also missed the entire 2014 and 2015 seasons due to a shoulder injury.

He is coming off his best season to date, though, after hitting .254/.335/.458 with 20 home runs, 35 doubles, six triples and 77 RBI in 146 games this year.  The switch-hitter fanned just 88 times in 594 plate appearances, so his ability to put the bat on the ball should help a team that ranked seventh in the American League in strikeouts a season ago.

Profar figures to see most of his action in Oakland at second base, although he has played all around the infield and even some left field in his career.

The 25-year-old is under club control through the 2020 season.

Meanwhile, Texas receives, among other assets, a talented arm in Burke in return. A 2014 third-round pick, Burke went 9-6 with a 3.08 ERA in 25 appearances (22 starts) between High-A and Double-A this past season, going an impressive 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA in nine starts at Double-A. The southpaw struck out 158 batters in 137.1 innings.

Baseball America's JJ Cooper noted that Burke would be a top-10 prospect in most organizations, while one scout told Passan that Burke is a "very underrated arm." Per Passan, the 22-year-old Burke could debut in the majors in 2020, if not sooner.

Not to be forgotten, White was the 17th-ranked prospect in the A's organization, according to MLB.com. The 24-year-old is coming off a strong performance in 2018, hitting .306/.388/.450 with nine home runs, 30 doubles, eight triples and 55 RBI in 130 games at Double-A.

White has spent the majority of his professional career at shortstop but has made 14 appearances in the outfield.

As he moves on to Tampa Bay, Pagan now joins his third team in three years. After debuting for the Seattle Mariners in 2017, the right-hander spent the 2018 season with Oakland, going 3-1 with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.194 WHIP in 55 outings, striking out 63 batters in 62 innings. He held right-handers to a .196 average this year.

Lacy was drafted in the 11th round by the Chicago Cubs last year and was part of the midseason trade that sent Cole Hamels from Texas to Chicago. The 23-year-old right-hander went 6-4 with a 2.97 ERA in 24 games, including 18 starts, between two levels of Single-A this past season season. 

   

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