Jurickson Profar would be perfect insurance policy for Yankees

The Yankees need to add a shortstop capable of filling in for Didi Gregorius to start the 2019 season. Jurickson Profar could play the part perfectly.

One of Brian Cashman’s biggest challenges this offseason is to acquire a player who can fill in for Didi Gregorius at shortstop and continue to provide the Yankees value after he returns from injury. If Cashman can convince the Rangers to part with Jurickson Profar this winter he’s going to overcome that challenge exceptionally well.

The idea of Texas moving on from Profar isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. He’s never really achieved the sort of stardom in Arlington that many people inside the Rangers organization hoped for. He also happens to be a Scott Boras client. That means the clock is ticking on him looking for a big time contract. Profar still has two years of arbitration in front of him, but he’s going to get expensive after that.

The Rangers are also in the market for starting pitching. The Yankees are too, but they also have a guy they’d like to offload who could bounce back in a less pressurized environment. Joel Sherman is correct with his assertion that Sonny Gray alone won’t be enough to bring Profar to the Bronx, but he could serve as the focal point of a package to land the versatile infielder.

Adding a quality prospect to the deal could be enough to push it over the line. A highly touted middle infielder like Thairo Estrada might be the perfect sweetener. He doesn’t have the star potential that Profar may or may not still possess, but he projects as a solid regular at short within the next year or two.

The fact that Profar can play shortstop and third base makes him a perfect fit for the Yankees defensively. He could assume the starting spot at short while Gregorius is on the disabled list. Having such a quality defender to turn to would prevent the organization from rushing Gregorius back into action. His ability to play third base at a high level would give the Yankees a high-quality defensive alternative to Miguel Andujar.

Offensively, the fact that he’s a switch hitter could provide important balance to Aaron Boone’s lineup. One of the underrated problems with Gregorius’ injury is that it removes one of the Yankees’ best left-handed bats from the lineup. Profar is a switch hitter who slashed .254/.335/.458 last season. That’s not far from what Gregorius provided the Yankees in 2018.

Cashman has a lot of work to do over the next couple months to overhaul the Yankees roster. Adding a high-ceiling, versatile infielder like Profar to the roster could be a subtle stroke of genius by the veteran GM.