Mariners not expected to bring J.P. Crawford back; players react to Crawford’s impact

As the off-season moves on and the 2027 Mariners roster takes shape, it will apparently be lacking the longest-tenured Mariner. Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports that the Mariners have informed J.P. Crawford the team doesn't intend to bring back the 32-year-old shortstop, who just completed the final year of a five-year contract extension. He's been a Mariner since 2019, the longest-tenured player in the clubhouse since Dylan Moore departed in 2025.

At the end of the 2026 season, Cal Raleigh talked about how seeing Mitch Haniger's go-ahead single from Game 161 in 2021 in a video package on the big board reminded him of his first year in the big leagues, coming up and watching Crawford who was in the midst of what was at the time his best career season.

"J.P.'s been here the entire time I've been in this organization…he's been a great person, a great leader, a great staple in this clubhouse. It's been a pleasure being his teammate."

"I love J.P. the player, I love the person. It was a little emotional seeing him walk off the field, not knowing what's going to happen. It's just tough. You spend so much time with these people, you invest yourself and your livelihood with them…it's just hard. It's hard turning that page."

Assuming this is the end, Crawford's 974 games rank as 10th most in team history. Crawford's final game as a Mariner was marked by a long and loud standing ovation after he was removed from the final game of the season in the fifth inning.

"The ovation, the love that he got, there's a reason for it," said Bryan Woo. "He means to much to the team, the organization, the fans, everybody. He was a huge piece in the turnaround of this organization and so he got recognized for that."

After arriving in 2019 in a major trade with the Phillies, Crawford was the face of the youth movement in the Mariners under Jerry Dipoto, memorably present for the passing of the torch at both Félix Hernández's final game as a Mariner and Kyle Seager's. 2019-2021 were turbulent years for the growing-pains Mariners, churning through players as Dipoto sought to overhaul an aging and expensive team, but Crawford was a steady hand, anchoring the team at shortstop, and taking home a Gold Glove in 2020.

Over his eight years in Seattle, Crawford grew into a clubhouse leader, establishing relationships with every player regardless of position or level. After signing his contract extension, he purchased a home in Woodinville that is the de facto gathering space for team parties, like the annual "Crawchella" he hosts.

"That's my brother, man," said Julio Rodríguez at the end of the season.

"Like, even before I got to the big league club I got to play with him and actually, we got tight. We always had a great relationship before, but after I started playing with him, he became my brother. We're always gonna be brothers. Baseball is one thing, but the person he's shown me that he is, that's a special person, and that's the least I can say here in front of the cameras. But I love him and I wish him the best. He's my boy."

Even as the Mariners drafted and developed Crawford's eventual replacements – shortstop Colt Emerson and Cole Young, who slid over to second base – Crawford poured energy into the younger players. He batted away questions at spring training about whether it was strained or uncomfortable to play with his own replacements, saying he was a decent person doing what a decent person does in mentoring the younger players.

Crawford developed an especially close relationship with Young, who he played with for two seasons, although Young says their relationship started even earlier than that.

"He's been awesome to me," said Young. "I'm not saying just saying that to say it. Even since day one of big-league spring training camp when I was still in A ball, he was always friendly towards me – I guess knew I would be up one day – and he became a friend when I was 19 years old. So that was the first thing I saw, how humble he is and how much he cared about the organization.

And then once I got called up, he's been a great mentor. Every day he holds me accountable to be the player I can be and the person I can be. And he's been a really good friend, too. It's funny because every time in the infield if I'll say something negative, he'll find a way to switch it back and make it positive. It just shows how much he cares about his teammates."

The shape of the Mariners clubhouse – which consistently draws praise from players who arrive via trades or waiver claims – has undoubtedly been strongly influenced by the personality of the California-born, reggae-loving, come-as-you-are Crawford, whose example empowered other players to be themselves.

"Since I got here, I feel like he's always had my back, and that's something I want to continue to carry for the people that come here," said Julio. "Some people want to put others in a box, but we're all different. We all come from different places. And there are some people that don't get that, and try to push whatever they want onto somebody else. But he definitely represents being who you are, representing where you come from, and that's – I can say that about myself, too. Whoever you want to be, just make sure you're aligned with us, and that's fine."

Appreciating people's differences while making a unified whole is what Young says he's learned from Crawford and what he plans to do going forward.

"I'll come to the field every day and go about my business and do all my routines and play the game hard but I'll also be a friendly person," Young said. "I'll take the time to get to know someone and be friends with them. Talk through every situation. Be friendly and open. Everyone approaches the game differently, and everyone is a different person, and just having that open mindset of like, okay, this person's this way, just being open to everyone and friendly to everyone. That's so important. In baseball you meet so many different people from so many different backgrounds. It's so important to be open-minded and get close to your teammates and have a good vibe, especially on the field and in the clubhouse, be friends with them."

The separator for Crawford, his teammates say, is the genuine care he shows for his teammates, on and off the field.

"I think it's a different outlook than most people," said Young. "Like it's more person-based, which is very unique. A lot of people just look at the numbers, all that stuff. But I think J.P. just really cares about the person in the clubhouse. I'm not just saying that.

The way that J.P. has interacted with me, he's just a good friend. Not just someone you come to the field with and see them for whenever you're on the field and then never talk to them after that. He's an actual friend. And when you come to the field and have that – especially when you first get called up – you feel more welcome. You feel like you have someone in your corner."

Now Young and his teammates will have to move on without J.P. in their corner – literally, there will be a notable absence in the clubhouse where Crawford's locker (and nearby lockers that occasionally get annexed) has been a fixture for the past eight years. But Young will take the lessons he learned from Crawford – about including younger players from the jump rather than hazing them, showing genuine care and friendship for teammates, and treating everyone equally while also letting them be themselves – into the next iteration of the Mariners clubhouse.

"Yeah, you carry the speaker because you're a rookie, but it's just fun. It's fun stuff," said Young. "He's just always been a good friend. There are a lot of things I'll take from him, but that's one of the biggest takeaways. No matter who you are, how established you are, he'll treat you the same and show you respect, and even if you're not established at all, he's still going to be friends with you. It just shows how good of a person he is.

That's what I learned from J.P., how important it is to know your teammates and be a good person. That's what I'm going to do, lead by example, the same way that he did."