photo: Brandon Crawford (Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports)
The St. Louis Cardinals are making a spring training addition of veteran San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford.
The combination of Tommy Edman’s longer-than-hoped recovery from off-season surgery and the dwindling shortstop free agent market* led the St. Louis Cardinals to commit to Brandon Crawford. The 13-year starter with the San Francisco Giants has reportedly come to terms on a one-year major league contract for a yet-undisclosed sum.
* In the past few days, Tim Anderson, Amed Rosario and Nick Ahmed all found new homes, with the latter taking Crawford’s former spot with the Giants.
The 37-year-old has two rings (2012 and 2014) and won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards (2015-17). However, Crawford’s offense has been on a steep decline since his 2021 peak (.895 OPS and fourth place finish in the National League MVP vote to .652 in 2022 and .587 last season). In 2023, he had a long string of nagging injuries (calf, knee, forearm, hamstring) that led to four different stints on the injured list.
With this signing, Edman can focus on center field and not have to serve as the reserve shortstop as well. Crawford will play behind rookie starter Masyn Winn.
Regarding the 26-man Opening Day roster, if everyone is healthy, including Edman, it seems like outfielder Alec Burleson would likely be the odd man out. The four-man bench in that scenario would be catcher Ivan Herrera (RHB), infielder Matt Carpenter (LH), outfielder Dylan Carlson (SW) and Crawford (LH).
In the near term, a 40-man roster spot will need to be cleared for Crawford. In my view, one from a group that includes infielders Buddy Kennedy, Alfonso Rivas, Jose Fermin and Jared Young plus outfielder Michael Siani could be at risk. A pitching removal seems less likely to me.
Crawford’s deal will be formally announced by the team once he reports to Jupiter and passes a physical exam.
Update
On Tuesday, February 27, the Cardinals finalized the signing of Crawford to a one-year contract for $2 million. Infielder Buddy Kennedy, claimed off waivers last fall, was designated for assignment.
Kennedy will likely either be claimed by another organization off waivers or will be outrighted to the minor leagues. A trade or release are less likely possibilities to occur over the next week.
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Check out The Cardinal Nation’s free Roster Matrix to view the Cardinals’ 40-man roster, spring camp invitees, and the entire system by level and position along with every player transaction.
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