Mariners’ Latest Camp Update Includes Roster Cuts And Good News For J.P. Crawford

Seattle’s camp got smaller Monday, but the best update involved J.P. Crawford.

Seattle Mariners shortstop JP Crawford (3) flips the ball for an out against the Milwaukee Brewers in the third inning. | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

This is another classic spring-training update dumps that does not look big on the surface, but it tells you a lot about where the Mariners are in camp. The roster is down to 67 after Seattle reassigned right-hander Gabe Mosser, infielder/outfielder Blake Rambusch, and outfielder Jared Sundstrom to minor league camp, with minor league games set to begin Tuesday. The Mariners are beginning to sort things out now that they no longer need extended looks at certain players.

It is just the reality of where the calendar sits. Once minor league camp gets going, a move like this usually says less about disappointment and more about logistics. The Mariners want regular work for those guys, and they want the big-league side of camp to get tighter. Mosser, Rambusch, and Sundstrom were useful spring names to have around, but this was always the point where the organization would start clearing space for the players with a more realistic shot at influencing the Opening Day conversation. 

Mariners’ Camp Picture Sharpens With More Cuts And J.P. Crawford Clarity

The bigger takeaway from Monday was J.P. Crawford. He was back at shortstop on March 9, and Dan Wilson said there is no concern about him being ready for the regular season. After the earlier shoulder chatter, that is about as close to a spring exhale as Mariners fans were going to get. Seattle can survive a lot of little things. 

What it doesn’t need is uncertainty around one of the few players who still helps hold the infield’s identity together. Crawford does not have to be the star of the lineup to matter a ton to this team. He just has to be healthy enough to be J.P. Crawford again. 

He’s coming off a legit bounce-back year in 2025, playing 157 games and hitting .265 with a .352 OBP, 12 homers, 58 RBI, 69 runs, and 74 walks. The patient J.P. version was still very much there too, as his 15.8 percent walk rate landed in the 98th percentile. He also put together a career-best 16-game hitting streak, passed Alex Rodriguez for the most games at shortstop in Mariners history on July 9, and gave Seattle his first career walk-off homer on Aug. 1 against Texas. 

The defense was shakier than usual and the Outs Above Average numbers were rough, but the bigger point is pretty simple: Crawford looked like himself again, and this roster feels a lot steadier when that version of him is around.

Seattle has spent enough of recent years trying to patch around key absences that even modest health wins feel meaningful. A healthy Crawford means cleaner defense, more lineup balance, and fewer weird early-season contingency plans no one wants to talk about in the first half of the season.