What about Jurickson Profar for the 'elusive' Reds bat?
The 32 year old switching hitting outfielder is coming off a career year with the Padres in 2024. So, why is he still out on the free agent market?
Prior to last season, he signed a 1-year deal with a base salary of $1M. He became a first time All-Star, hitting .280-.380-.459-.839 with a career high in homers (24), RBI (85), runs (94) and walks (76) and WAR (3.6). He added a career-best OPS as a RHB (.885) and a LHB (.823). He earned more than double his $1M salary in incentives reached.
2024 vs RHP: .273/.823 with 16 HR.....vs LHP .300/.885
He clubbed 15 of his homers at Petco, a pitcher's park....hitting .297-.385-.528-.913 at home.
2024 RISP: .321-.446-.509-.955
All of that production after being released by the Rockies in August of 2023.
What happened in 2024? Did he get 'lucky'? How real was his season? Well, he tweaked his swing, adding a leg kick. He started crushing the ball. His exit velocity skyrocketed from 86.5 mph in 2023 (below league average) to 91.1 (above league average). His hard-hit rate jumped from 31.8% to 44.4% After hitting just .156 vs offspeed pitches in 2023, hit clobbered offspeed pitches at .343.
He played 148 of his 158 games in LF in 2024.
Career games: 2B 219, SS 104, 3B 89, 1B 72, RF 33, CF 21.
Spotrac had originally projected a salary of 2 years/$26M
Thoughts?