Mariners Tell Longtime Shortstop He’s Not Returning; Enters Free Agency For 1st Time
It’s a bigger step than what Jude reported back in September, when the Mariners had “not made any overtures about re-signing” Crawford as of September 20. Seattle has now gone further and told him directly that it’s moving on.
The outcome was widely assumed by the end of the season, since the Mariners no longer see the 31-year-old as a starting shortstop.
Crawford’s Tough Final Season
Crawford’s last year in Seattle was a grind from the start. He opened the season on the injured list with a right shoulder injury, then went back on the IL in late July with left wrist inflammation and missed nearly a month.
He finished hitting .221 with 14 home runs, 40 RBIs and a .687 OPS. He told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish that “more than half of the season I was playing with one arm.”
That was the final season of the five-year, $51 million deal he signed in April 2022. It also capped an eight-year stretch that produced 21.7 bWAR and a .247/.340/.367 line in one of baseball’s toughest parks for hitters.
The Mariners have informed J.P. Crawford that they do not plan to bring him back in 2027, multiple industry sources told The Times. https://t.co/aqgxrnFxqd
— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) November 10, 2026
His best work came in the field and in the clubhouse. Crawford won a Gold Glove in 2020, and his 2023 season was one of the best by a Mariners shortstop in years.
He’d also made it clear many times that he wanted to be a Mariner for life, and his agent met with GM Justin Hollander this season to repeat that, after Crawford asked to try third base to stay in the lineup.
Emerson Era At Shortstop
The bigger reason for the move is Colt Emerson.
The Mariners signed their top prospect to an eight-year, $95 million extension in spring training, before he’d played a big-league game, the largest deal ever for a player who hadn’t yet debuted.
Jerry Dipoto originally said Crawford would stay at shortstop with Emerson working at third. Emerson ended up seeing time at short before season-ending wrist surgery in August, and he’s expected to be a big part of Seattle’s plans in the middle of the infield.
The Mariners have informed J.P. Crawford that they do not plan to bring him back in 2027, per The Seattle Times Crawford will go down as one of the best shortstops to ever put on a Seattle uniform, with a case to one day be a Mariners Hall Of Famer https://t.co/pNwN4iDN5N
— Marine Layer Podcast (@MarineLayerPod) November 10, 2026
The Mariners’ needs also cut against a Crawford return. Jude reported that Seattle wants a “veteran infielder who can play either third base or shortstop,” and the club needs at least one proven right-handed bat.
Crawford hits left-handed, as do Emerson, Cole Young, Brendan Donovan and Josh Naylor, so bringing him back would have made a lefty-heavy lineup even more one-sided.
Crawford now heads into free agency for the first time in his career.
