Why Has No One Signed Jurickson Profar Yet?

Let’s compare him to the aforementioned trio of Brantley, Drury, and Bell. In fact, Profar is quite comparable to Brantley and Bell, who both play a position down the defensive spectrum. Both are also considerably better hitters than Profar. Brantley’s wRC+ hasn’t sat below 120 in five years, while Bell’s mark sits at 121 since the beginning of 2021. On the other hand, Profar’s 110 wRC+ last year was his highest in a full season, and his career mark of 94 is substantially worse than that of Brantley or Bell. Other outfielders like J.D. Martinez and Michael Conforto also signed in that price range. In other words, if a team was looking for an everyday left fielder who wouldn’t break the bank, Profar probably wouldn’t have been their first call.

If teams weren’t interested in Profar in an everyday role, then what about bringing him on as a part-time player? While Profar was exclusively a left fielder last year, he has significant experience at all four infield positions. Surely a league-average bat you can plug and play at five different positions would be useful to a contending team. Last season’s Phillies nearly won the World Series despite letting Didi Gregorius (58 wRC+) and Johan Camargo (74 wRC+) combine for almost 400 plate appearances, and nearly every other team has deficiencies at least somewhere on the field. Drury’s two-year, $17 million contract with the Angels shows the value teams place in a multi-positional skill set. Despite entering 2022 with just 0.6 career WAR, Drury experienced a power breakout, clubbing 28 homers and accruing 3 WAR despite not having a dedicated starting position. Instead, he took over wherever he was needed, appearing at five different positions as the Reds and Padres did everything they could to maximize his presence in the batting order.