Report: SF Giants icon Brandon Crawford agrees to deal with Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a contract with former SF Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, according to a report by Katie Woo of The Athletic. Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report the interest between the two sides. The news marks the official end to Crawford's iconic tenure with the Giants. While it seemed like a reunion was unlikely, the Giants decision to sign veteran shortstop Nick Ahmed on Monday fully closed that door. Now Crawford heads to St. Louis where he is slated to be a left-handed bench bat for manager Oliver Marmol.
SF Giants shortstop stands on the field after the final game of the 2023 season.
D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
The 2023 season always felt like a farewell for Crawford. In the final year of his contract with the Giants, Crawford was once again mired by injuries and struggled offensively. He finished the season with an abysmal .194/.273/.314 triple-slash in 320 plate appearances. Despite a late-season injury, the Giants activated him for the final game of the season to give Oracle Park one final opportunity to cheer him on.
Crawford, though, never committed to hanging up his cleats, and consistently said he would take time in the offseason to contemplate his future. As the offseason got underway, Crawford's agent revealed that he was open to continuing his career.
Seeing Crawford in a uniform other than the Giants will be an adjustment for both him and fans. He grew up in a family of avid Giants fans and dreamed of being the team's shortstop one day. He was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round of the 2008 MLB Draft and would solidify himself as the team's starter roughly three years later. He went on to have a 13-year career with the team, playing a key part of two World Series championships while reaching three All-Star games and winning four Gold Gloves in the process.
While Crawford remains just two seasons removed from the best campaign of his career in 2021, when he hit .298/.373/.522 with 30 doubles, 24 home runs, and finished fourth in NL MVP voting, Crawford turned 37 in January and has looked like a shell of himself as a player over the past two years.
With all that said, Brandon Crawford is the greatest shortstop in SF Giants franchise history, and one of the best in MLB over the past decade. His excellent track record is easy to believe in. The St. Louis Cardinals are hopeful that he has at least one more surge left in his career.
