Mariners, J.P. Crawford Agree To New 5-Year, $51 Million Contract

SEATTLE, WA —Hours before the Seattle Mariners' scheduled season-opener in Minnesota, the team made news Friday by agreeing to a new contract with shortstop J.P. Crawford, ESPN baseball expert Jeff Passan reported.

According to Passan, sources familiar with the deal said the contract is for five years and $51 million. Crawford, 27, will make $5 million this season —up from the $4.84 million he was scheduled to make — $10 million from 2023 to 2025 and $11 million in the final year of the deal in 2026.

Crawford, who won a Gold Glove in 2020, was scheduled to become a free agent after the 2024 season, but now is tied to the team through 2026.

On Twitter, Crawford said he was excited about the future in Seattle.

"I've said before that I'm here to win, and we're going to win for a long time. Let's ride," Crawford said.

Last season, Crawford's fifth in the MLB, he batted .273 with nine home runs, 54 RBIs and 46 extra-base hits.

In a Tweet, Passan called Crawford an "elite defender whose bat has steadily improved."

In its 2022 baseball season preview, Lindy's Sports said Crawford shows signs of improving even more at the plate.

"Crawford, now an established everyday shortstop, exhibits the sort of limber athleticism that once made him a top prospect," the publication wrote about Crawford, who was acquired in a trade with the Phillies in 2018. "He winds up from an open stance at the plate and mostly sprays line drives and choppers. But occasionally Crawford will uncork a big pulled homer that hints at more power."

The Mariners are hoping this will be the year the team ends its 21-year playoff drought, currently the longest such drought in North American sports.

The team made several key additions in the offseason, signing American League Cy Young Award-winner Robbie Ray as a free agent and trading for outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Eugenio Suarez from the Reds.

Plus, the Mariners' top prospect Julio Rodriguez —rated as the No. 3 prospect in baseball by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel — has made the team. Rodriguez, 21, is expected to play in the outfield alongside talented 22-year-old centerfielder Jarred Kelenic.