Jurickson Profar and the Atlanta Braves agree to a three year deal
The Atlanta Braves have surprisingly been one of the quieter contenders this offseason. Aside from a contract extension for Reynaldo Lopez and a few minor league contracts, the Braves have spent minimally thus far headed into 2025. That changed on Thursday afternoon after Jeff Passan reported that the Braves were in agreement on a three year deal worth $42 million. The contract will take Profar from his age 32 season through his age 34 season.
Prior to 2024, Profar’s outlook had been very bleak after putting up a -1.6 fWAR in 2023 for the Rockies and Padres - which happened to be the worst in all of baseball that year. With a need for outfield depth headed into 2024, the Padres took another flyer on Profar, and it paid off big time as he ended up on his first All-Star team. Profar put up career highs across the board in San Diego. He hit 24 home runs, drove in 85, and put up a line of .280/.380/.459 - good for an .839 OPS, a 139 wRC+, and 4.3 fWAR. Profar spent the majority of his playing time in left field where he ranked top five in home runs, AVG, OBP, OPS, wRC+, and fWAR.
It’s easy to contribute this type of success to a player of Profar’s caliber this late into his career to “luck,” but his numbers under the hood checked out. He also posted career highs in average EV (91.1), barrel% (7.2), hardhit% (44.2), xSLG (.444), and xwOBA (.364) - all of which were at least 70th percentile. For his entire career, Profar has displayed a very patient approach at the plate with above average contact skills, but it never resulted in a lot of production. With the improved contact quality metrics, Profar was finally able to turn in a season baseball fans once expected of him as a top prospect in the early-2010s. The Braves are banking on him doing the same in 2025.
He fits in nicely in Atlanta’s outfield with Michael Harris ll in center field and Ronald Acuna Jr. returning to right field duties when he’s fully recovered from his ACL tear. If everything clicks for that outfield, it can be one of the best in baseball. He’ll also provide some much needed depth to a lineup that was beat up by injuries in 2024. Jared Kelenic got the majority of the run in left field, with Adam Duvall, Ramon Laureano, and Eddie Rosario splitting time there as well. Kelenic is the only remaining player from that bunch and put up a pretty underwhelming season, so the addition of Profar really boosts the outlook for this lineup.
