Former scout and baseball exec Tony Blengino shares memories from his early observations (and beyond) of Texas Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar.
I first saw Jurickson Profar play late in the summer of 2010, when his short-season Spokane club faced off with the Mariners' Everett club in the Northwest League championship series. I was working in the Mariners' front office then, and Everett was an easy trip up I-5.
Sure, I was checking in on our own AquaSox farmhands, but truth be told, it wasn't exactly a prospect-laden group. Steven Baron was the only player in the lineup that night who had a major league appearance in his future; pitchers Yoervis Medina, Stephen Pryor and Tom Wilhelmsen had played there during the regular season but had since been promoted.