It wasn't long after the Texas Rangers had delivered the somber news that Jurickson Profar would miss 10-12 weeks with a muscle tear in his shoulder that they were already shooting down a possible replacement for the 21-year-old second baseman.
Profar, who just a year ago was the game's top prospect, was in line to be an everyday player for the first time in his career after being used last year, not ideally, in a utility/bench role. Now, he's out for three months and leaving the Rangers in quite a spot when it comes to replacing their young phenom.
So how about another young phenom? Not so fast, said Rangers general manager Jon Daniels.
Daniels was immediately answering questions from reporters about the possibility of Rougned Odor starting the year in the bigs as Profar's replacement. At 20 years old, Odor is the club's second-ranked prospect behind catcher Jorge Alfaro, and he's had a solid spring training in limited action with the big boys. He's hit .294 (5-for-17) and has played well at second base, which is really all the Rangers can ask of any replacement.
But here's the thing: There's plenty of veterans out there that can play solid defense at second base. It'd be a huge risk to bring Odor up for three months and run the risk of killing the confidence of a guy who's only played 30 career games at the Double-A level.
The Rangers don't need to make the same mistake with Odor they made with Profar, and it seems they're fully aware of that.
