Jurickson Profar: A Scout's Take from FanGraphs' Mike Newman

Rangers shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar is an elite prospect at the young age of 18 years old. Minor League Ball's John Sickels recently ranked Profar as the Rangers #1 prospect and gave him a A grade, a grade he only gives to the truly top prospects in the game.

On Wednesday, FanGraphs' Mike Newman publshed his scouting reporting, including video, on Profar here. He titled the article appropriately, in my opinion, as Profar appears to be the next star in the Rangers loaded farm system. 

Here is an excerpt:

As a person who’s much more conservative in my approach to scouting than political leanings, the terms “elite”, “franchise”, “all-star”, “gold glove” rarely find their way into my scouting reports. In actuality, most critiques thrown my way involve my being too critical. In the case of Jurickson Profar, I’ve scoured my notes and video to identify problem areas in his all-around game, but I simply can’t find any. At present, the young shortstop is as complete a position prospect as one could hope to find at any level of the minor leagues.

I have previously written about Profar's 2011 performance in a couple Prospect Chat articles, but his stats bare repeating as he put up numbers that few 18 year old prospects put up, especially in full season ball. This season in Low A, Profar hit .286-.390-.493 with 12 HRs, 37 doubles, 8 triples, 65 RBI, 86 runs, 23 stolen bases and an excellent 63-65 K/BB rate in 430 at bats. Quite a season for such a young hitter. 

More on Newman's scouting report on Profar after the jump:

I was checking out the twitter page for Fake Teams fantasy football writer Mike Gallagher yesterday, and came across a follower's question. He asked if he should deal Rockies pitching prospect Drew Pomeranz for Profar. I immediately responded that he HAS to make that deal. Pomeranz is a nice prospect, but Profar could be the next superstar at shortstop.

Newman went into great detail in his scouting report, and here are a few excerpts:

And explosion is definitely present in Profar’s swing – especially in his wrists. With present plus bat speed bordering on elite, the young shortstop is able to generate significantly more power than one would assume given his wiry frame and perceived lack of strength. 

In viewing the video, he looks like a younger version of Hanley Ramirez and Mike is right, he could add 20 pounds to his frame and hit for more power as he matures at the plate.

Newman went on to compare Profar to White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, saying his on base skills will make him a better version of Alexei and a possible 5-6 WAR player in the future.

He end the scouting report with this:

For me, the conservative approach would be to label Jurickson Profar an above average regular with multiple all-star seasons. A more aggressive assessment would leave the Rangers shortstop a franchise player worthy of building an organization around. If not for Nationals phenom Bryce Harper, Jurickson Profar would rank as the best prospect I scouted this season.

And that is the key point with Newman. He won't render a scouting opinion until he sees them in person. If you read his chats, he says this frequently, which is not a knock. 

I wrote this article to make sure our readers are fully aware of Profar's 2011 season, and that he should be ranked in the Top 10 in most experts Top 100 prospect lists come January/February 2012, in my opinion. That and to make sure you saw Mike's excellent work over at FanGraphs. He's a good read.