Ex-No. 1 prospect Profar on radar

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Yankees are still trying to make a trade or two before the Monday deadline to freeze 40-man rosters for December’s Rule 5 draft, and one player who has surprisingly caught their attention is Texas’ Jurickson Profar.

The Yankees are deep in infield prospects, so there is no obvious place for Profar — once the top prospect in the game — to play.

But it seems the Yankees would be willing to take on a single player with upside and pedigree in exchange for multiple players who are crowding their deep 40-man roster.

Texas is interested in the Yankees’ excess pitching whether Profar is in a deal or not. The list of pitchers who are at least in the debate whether to keep them on the 40-man or leave them off it despite eligibility includes Luis Cessa, Bryan Mitchell, Caleb Smith, Chasen Shreve, Ronald Herrera, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Gio Gallegos, Cale Coshow, J.P. Feyereisen and several others.

There is no certainty Texas will deal Profar, the consensus No. 1 prospect in the game before the 2013 season. Texas’ current shortstop, Elvis Andrus, can opt out of his contract after next season, and third baseman Adrian Beltre is a free agent. Thus, Profar provides the potential for long-term protection.

However, Profar is out of options, so must be on the 25-man roster next season or be exposed to waivers, and his fall the past few years has been precipitous. He missed all of the 2014-15 seasons because of shoulder injuries. He returned in 2016 to be a jack of all trades, but never matched his previous hype and last season, in 22 games, hit .172 with no homers and a .501 OPS. And Profar was not even called up in September to the majors when rosters expanded — that in part also kept him from building service time and shortening his period to free agency.

The Yankees currently have Didi Gregorius at short and Starlin Castro at second. But Brian Cashman has indicated Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres and Tyler Wade will be given opportunities to take playing time from Chase Headley at third. So, in theory, Profar could become part of that third-base battle. In addition, he could unseat Ronald Torreyes as the primary utilityman, just with first base and left field also part of his résumé.

Profar would fit into the Yankees recent philosophy in which they are willing to acquire prime-aged players with upside such as Gregorius, who like Profar was raised in Curacao, or Aaron Hicks, who like Profar was a switch hitter who had not yet honored his pedigree.