SEATTLE -- The J.P. Crawford era in Seattle has come to an end.
The club has informed the veteran infielder that it does not intend to bring him back for the 2027 season, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Tuesday, confirming an initial report from The Seattle Times. The team has not officially commented on the news.
The 31-year-old became a free agent for the first time in his career last week, having just played out a five-year, $51 million contract that he signed on Opening Day in 2022.
Crawford had expressed interest in returning, even if it meant in a different role, saying as far back as May, “I want to be a Mariner for life.” But it became clear in the late stages of the season that the team was leaning in the direction of moving on.
During the final game of the regular season, Crawford was pulled for a defensive replacement and brought to tears in front of a large ovation at T-Mobile Park.
“I feel like the season was a letdown,” Crawford said that weekend, after Seattle was eliminated from postseason contention. “Obviously, we didn't reach our goal. We didn't meet our standards, and I take full accountability for that.”
His fit on the 2027 roster seemed murky, given the defensive decline he experienced at shortstop, that the club has Cole Young at second base and that it intends to allocate a handful of third-base reps to Brendan Donovan, another lefty-hitting bat.
Who assumes the full-time gig at shortstop will also be one of the club’s key decisions this offseason.
Colt Emerson is probably in the driver’s seat -- and definitely is long-term, having signed a $95 million contract extension in the spring -- but he’s coming off a tough rookie season that was compounded by a wrist injury he attempted to play through. Upon being demoted to Triple-A Tacoma in late August, the 21-year-old wound up having season-ending surgery.
The Mariners are expected to add at least one bat this winter, but at what position remains unclear. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto suggested that they could bring in either a shortstop or third baseman and then adjust between Donovan and Emerson, who played third upon being called up in mid-May. Their preference would be to use Donovan in a super-utility role.
The club also faces the tall task of back-filling the production from Randy Arozarena, their most consistent player in 2026, who, like Crawford, is also a free agent. The Mariners have extended Arozarena a qualifying offer, but he’s expected to decline and seek a more lucrative contract, which in all likelihood will be elsewhere. Michael Arroyo, their No. 3 prospect who debuted in September, is expected to see action in left field. But he recently underwent right elbow surgery and will be sidelined from game action until April.
Overall, the Mariners’ lineup is extremely left-handed, and as they prioritize upgrades this offseason, right-handed hitters would appear to be a better fit.
As for Crawford, he was the club’s longest-tenured active player last season and was the last man standing among the group that was here as Seattle embarked on its first true rebuild eight years ago.
No one could’ve envisioned it at the time, but when the Mariners acquired Crawford -- a former Top 5 prospect in the sport who just couldn’t find his footing -- from the Phillies at the outset of that rebuild, they were getting a player who would become a foundational leader, a pillar in the community and arguably one of the best at his position in franchise history.
Crawford wasn’t a player that the club intended to build around entering 2019, but rather one they believed could be a complementary piece to a more high-profile cast. Yet, his durability and productivity led to him carving out one of the more prominent roles of his era in Seattle.
Having already been selected among the club’s 50 best players in franchise history as part of the Mariners’ 50 Seasons celebration last summer, there’s a decent chance that Crawford also winds up in the team’s Hall of Fame one day.