After 974 Games and One Last Standing Ovation, the Mariners Are Moving On From J.P. Crawford

The Mariners can explain the move. We can still hate the goodbye.

Sep 27, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford (3) gets a hug from designated hitter Cal Raleigh (29) after leaving a game against the Los Angeles Angels during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We were excited to see what J.P. Crawford could do with a fresh start. There was a real appeal to the December 2018 trade, even as the Mariners sent an All-Star shortstop in Jean Segura to Philadelphia. Crawford was 23, a former first-round pick coming off an injury-shortened season with the Phillies. Seattle had the at-bats available to give him. They had time to find out what it had. Eight seasons later, it still feels strange to think we’ll look out at shortstop and know we’ve seen the last of him in a Mariners uniform.

The Mariners told Crawford they don’t plan to bring him back in 2027, Adam Jude reported for The Seattle Times. The longest-tenured shortstop in franchise history wanted to finish his career here. He’s a free agent now, and that fifth inning moment on Sept. 27 looks a lot different than it did when a sold-out T-Mobile Park stood up as he came out of his 974th game for Seattle. We had a pretty good idea what we were watching. But it still lands differently when the club makes its decision and makes it clear that they are moving on.

J.P. Crawford’s Biggest Mariners Moments Earned That Final Standing Ovation

Crawford won a Gold Glove in 2020, back when watching the Mariners meant spending a lot of time talking about what they might be in a couple of years. In July 2025, he passed Alex Rodriguez for the most games played at shortstop in franchise history. Think about how much baseball happened between those two milestones. Crawford went from a player the Mariners could afford to be patient with to the guy who came up with some big swings when the Mariners needed them.

Cal Raleigh’s home run will always be the swing that ended the 21-year playoff drought. A week later in Toronto, Crawford gave us one of the swings that made the trip to October worth the wait. The Mariners had been down 8–1 in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. In the eighth, with the bases loaded and Seattle still down three, Crawford dropped a double into shallow center. Three runs scored. That made the game 9–9. The Mariners went on to win 10–9 and sweep the Blue Jays. A ball that barely made it out of the infield changed the sound of an entire ballpark.

Then there was the ninth inning against Texas in September 2023. Seattle was down a run and running out of season. Crawford drove a two-run double to left and turned a 2–1 deficit into a 3–2 walk-off. The Mariners ultimately missed the playoffs that year. That swing still deserves its place because anyone watching that night remembers how badly we wanted one more game that mattered. Crawford gave us one.

And even this year, he had one more swing for us. On the Saturday before the ovation, Crawford homered in the seventh inning of an 8–4 win over the Angels. His last weekend in Seattle gave us a chance to cheer for something he did and then a chance to cheer for everything he’d done.

Even if you don’t remember the swings, you remember those glove flips. Crawford would dive to stop a grounder, flip it to the second baseman and let him finish the throw to first. A 6-4-3 for one out. We love a little backyard baseball in the big leagues.

J.P. Crawford and Dylan Moore, instincts + glovely play. pic.twitter.com/J1js2H1fzN

— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 30, 2024

Why the Mariners Are Moving On From J.P. Crawford After His Down Season

Crawford hit .221 with a .687 OPS in 2026. He still drew enough walks to put up a .335 on-base percentage and hit 14 home runs, but his slugging percentage was .352. The patience was still there. The damage just didn’t come enough. He turns 32 in January, and we can see why the Mariners want more production from that spot in the lineup. Moving on is a defensible baseball decision. Making the lineup better is the part they still have to do.

Colt Emerson is the obvious place to start. The Mariners made a $95 million commitment to him with an eventual handoff in mind. He also just had a rookie season cut short by wrist surgery, and Jude reports third base remains a possibility. If that’s where Seattle wants him, somebody still has to play shortstop. If the plan is to give him a shot at short, the Mariners need enough depth to let a 21-year-old work his way back without asking him to carry the infield at the beginning of 2027. That’s on the front office. Since they plan to move on from Crawford, they need to have a real answer about who takes his spot.

Crawford told The Times after the season that he owed Seattle and its fans everything. We’d give him a little more credit than that. When he got here, we were hoping a young shortstop would make the most of a second chance. By the time we stood up in the fifth inning, we’d seen him win a Gold Glove, help get us back to October and come through often enough that we expected it. He wanted a few more years here. We would’ve loved for the baseball to make that an easy call.