Crawford gets high praise from Rockies' Weiss

DENVER -- Colorado manager Walt Weiss, who possesses considerable insight into playing shortstop, is a fan of the Giants' Brandon Crawford.

Weiss played shortstop in the Majors for 14 seasons with four different clubs from 1987-2000. His teams reached the postseason eight times. To him, Crawford is a winning shortstop.

"Last year was the first time I saw him, and I was very impressed with him," Weiss said Wednesday. "He's a very solid defender, and I think that he's already a very good hitter. I think he's a shortstop who's going to do some damage offensively throughout his career. He's a good-looking player."

Weiss said he's most impressed by the poise and smoothness with which Crawford handles a difficult play.

"He turns tough chances into easy-looking outs and that's the sign of a very good shortstop," Weiss said. "He makes them look pretty routine."