PEORIA, Ariz. — Mariners manager Scott Servais calls J.P. Crawford “a thinker. He doesn’t get credit for that.”
Third base coach Manny Acta commented on the bench last week during the Mariners’ Cactus League opener that Crawford is always in the right place on the field. Servais has referred to him this spring as “a coach on the field” and “quarterback of the defense.”
Those are attributes that all teams seek in their shortstop, and ones that Crawford is happy to embrace.
“It’s called reading the game,” he said. “I think that’s the beauty of baseball that got taken out the last couple of years with all the analytics and people telling you where to play. But that’s always in the back of my mind. I try to think two steps ahead of the next pitch coming. I’ve always been like that.”
But for the second year in a row, the burning question during the Mariners’ offseason was whether Crawford would be doing that from the shortstop position, where he has been a fixture since partway through the 2019 season. Only Marco Gonzales has more seniority in terms of continuous service with the Mariners.
Once again, a premier crop of shortstops was on the free-agent market — Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson and Carlos Correa. Considering that Crawford, after a torrid start last year (.363/.454/.582 in his first 108 plate appearances), hit just .218/.314/.283 over the next 119 games, there was rampant speculation the Mariners would plunge into that market.
Instead, just like in 2022, when the Mariners passed on free agents Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Marcus Semien and Javier Baez to stick with Crawford at shortstop, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto made it clear at the outset of the offseason that his strong preference was to keep Crawford at the position. And that’s exactly what transpired as the market exploded with mammoth long-term contracts for the aforementioned shortstops.
Crawford, who turned 28 in January, is gratified by the show of faith, which follows the five-year, $50 million contract extension he signed last year on opening day in Minneapolis. He’s also determined to reward the Mariners’ trust in him.
Of course, some that trust might be informed by their unwillingness to wade into the financial waters that yielded an 11-year, $300 million contract for Turner with the Phillies, 11 years and $280 million for Bogaerts in San Diego, 7-$177 million for Swanson with the Cubs and 6-$200 million for Correa with the Twins (after a 13-year, $350 million contract with the Giants and 12 years, $315 million with the Mets fell through when Correa flunked his physicals).
Crawford said at the outset of the offseason that he felt it was possible he might be displaced by an incoming shortstop.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “They’re the best players in the world. We’re trying to win here. Whatever happened, I would have been OK with it. But they have their trust in me, and I really appreciate that.”
Two years ago, Dipoto called Crawford early in winter to assure him that no matter what rumors he heard, disregard them because they had no plans to move him off shortstop. They talked to Semien and Story with the thought of moving them to second base. And this winter, Dipoto indicated that he again preferred to keep Crawford at short because of the continuity he offered from that position.
“It definitely took a weight off my shoulders,” Crawford said. “You read all the social media and stuff. You try not to, but it’s always around, and you’re going to look at it. But just knowing going into the offseason that my job’s secure, you can maybe work a little harder in what I’ve got to do to get better and help my team win. So I went down to Driveline in Kent and got my swing fixed up. It’s paying off right now. I feel really good.”
The kicker is that Crawford said he would have willingly moved to second base if the Mariners had signed one of those big-name shortstops.
“Hell, yeah. Absolutely. I’ll play catcher. I don’t care where I’m playing. I’ll play anywhere. Long as I’m in that lineup every day helping my team win, it don’t matter.”
Instead, the Mariners traded for Kolten Wong to play second. Crawford said he’s still “pissed off” and motivated by the three-game sweep at the hands of Houston in the Division Series in which they had a chance to win each game.
That followed a sweep of Toronto in the wild-card series, in which Crawford’s bases-loaded, base-clearing double in the eighth inning fueled their comeback from an 8-1 deficit.
“That series was the greatest series I think anyone in this room has ever played in their life,” he said. “Just the atmosphere on that type of play. It’s addicting. You know, you fiend for that type of energy, for that adrenaline rush. And once you start playing those types of games, you expect that every game, that same intensity.”
But Crawford says he dwells on the heartbreaking Houston series even more than the perfectly placed pop-fly he hit that fell among three Blue Jays fielders to drive in three runs.
“Because we were so close,” he said. “We were in every game, but we were on the short end of the stick right there. And it hurts. But it’s baseball. It’s life. Sometimes it’s a full circle. I think everyone grew from that. And now we all know what it takes to get to that level and get beyond it.”
The Mariners hope they get the version of Crawford that’s closer to April and May than the one that struggled the rest of the season. But Crawford was hampered by injuries, including back, leg, knee and pectoral ailments. He still avoided the injured list and played 145 games.
Crawford said he feels he can replicate his fast start “if I stay healthy. People don’t talk about the injuries people go through every year, where you’re going from 100 percent to literally 25 percent, where you could barely swing and people are asking ‘What’s going on?’ You know what you’re doing. You’re helping your team out any way you can, even though you’re banged up. You don’t care about the [statistics]. Our team’s winning, and that’s all I care about.”
Servais would like Dylan Moore to spell Crawford at shortstop maybe once a week to keep him fresher. The hope is that the lessons learned at Driveline will buoy his production. Crawford had just 33 extra-base hits last year.
“I was putting myself in a bad spot to fire, so I was trying to clean up my loading and really use the force from your legs,” he said. “Using that kinetic energy to work all the way up through your body and just get more oomph on the ball.”
When Kyle Seager retired after the 2021 season, he passed the mantle of leadership to Crawford.
“I knew coming in this was going to be my team,” he said.
And the Mariners again decided that the best way for him to fulfill that role was at shortstop. The wisdom of that decision will be revealed.