Five Key Holes the Rangers Need to Fill This Winter, and How They Should Fill Them

By Sam Merten Tue., Nov. 6 2012 at 8:00 AM

5. What should be done to solve the logjam at second base and shortstop?

There's seemingly a lot of support for moving Ian Kinsler to the outfield and replacing him at second base with Jurickson Profar, and there's also a faction of folks pushing for Texas to deal Elvis Andrus, who's two years away from free agency and is represented by Scott Boras.

I prefer the least popular move: trading Profar. As I mentioned earlier, he'd be the key piece to a deal that could land an ace. As tantalizing as his talent is, Profar turns just 20 in February, and aside from his amazing major league debut, we don't know if he's ready to play 150-plus games, especially since he only has one season under his belt in Double-A and played sporadically in September. And while he had a strong season (.281, 14 HR, 62 RBI, 16 SB) with the Frisco RoughRiders, it's not like he posted Ruthian numbers. Sure, Andrus played well as a 20-year-old rookie, but that doesn't mean Profar can do the same.

If a deal can't be made for a frontline starter using Profar, I'd give him another year in the minors. And if Texas is hell-bent on giving Profar a starting job, I'd shop Andrus, since Kinsler is basically untradeable with his five-year, $75 million contract kicking in next year.

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kergo1spaceship

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Baseball in the observer! Is it X-mas?

ScottsMerkin topcommenter

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Oh and Thanks Joe for letting Merten sling us a little baseball writing, its always a good read

ScottsMerkin topcommenter

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On trading SS, would you rather have the known of Elvis who could leave in 2 years or Profar under long term control? Couldnt you hope to fleece someone ala the Texiera trade with Elvis?

With Hambone, could you see this team changing over from a power hitting HR machine to a more speedy slap the ball around and run the hell out of teams? Wouldnt that be wasting the advantage we have as a power team in our park

I say give Soria a shot in the pen. You got Nathan to close but he is on his last year and if Soria fully recovers from his surgery and is anywhere near where he was last year, he slides right into the closer role in 2014.

Id rather pay Napoli more to hit .220 here than Arencibia, at least we know Nap works well with the staff

JustSaying

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@ScottsMerkin

Nobody is going to pull a robbery like the Rangers did with the Braves ever again. That was like the Herchel Walker trade. But even if someone was dumb enough to do that, it wouldnt be for a player like Elvis. Tex had muuuch more value at the time. The guy was a .300 hitter with power and also just happened to be the best defensive first baseman in the league. And yes, I did say was.

I agree about Soria but expect him to sign with the Yankees. They will need him if they dont resign Soriano. His agent said that going to New York to set up Mo is the only place that he would be willing to go if he wasnt going to be the 9th inning guy.

ScottsMerkin topcommenter

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@JustSaying true on the trade but Elvis is the next Jeter, but Im sure if we traded him to NY we'd choose Arias over Cano.

JustSaying

@Mervis I agree that Elvis is not the next Jeter. But its not like Jeter is known for his power. I think the main difference is, as much as I like Andrus, he always seems to make one bone-headed play per game. It might be baserunning, it might be fielding. He just always seems to pull one head scratcher out of his ass. Jeter never did that.