A’s trade Jurickson Profar to Padres, acquire left-handed catcher

The Oakland Athletics traded infielder Jurickson Profar to the San Diego Padres for catcher Austin Allen and a player to be named later.

Sources: #Padres acquire Jurickson Profar.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) December 2, 2019

The 26-year-old infielder, acquired in a three-team trade from the Texas Rangers last offseason, struggled in his season with the A’s. He slashed .218/.301/.410 in 2019 and couldn’t find consistency defensively, often misfiring throws from second base to first.

Profar, a switch hitter, was due to make around $6 million in arbitration — a hefty price tag for an under-performing middle infielder. The A’s should look to bolster their left-handed corps this offseason, and an upgrade at second base could help.

Allen, 25, is a potential left-handed power bat that could back up Sean Murphy and compete with Jonah Heim for back-up duties. He played 34 games for the Padres in 2019, batting .215. In 67 games with Triple-A El Paso in the PCL, Allen slashed .330/.379/.668 with 21 home runs.

The A’s have a jammed pipeline of middle infielders, too. Profar’s departure opens things up for Sheldon Neuse, Jorge Mateo and Franklin Barreto to possibly move up on the depth chart. One or some of the promising trio of infielders could be valuable trade pieces, especially with promising prospective infielders Jeremy Eierman and Nick Allen coming up quickly through the pipeline.