Brandon Crawfordmost decorated shortstop
San Francisco Giants
history, might have the right to be critical following the
The case of Carlos Correa
after the organization offered $350 million to a man who would have taken over his job. But on Friday, Crawford typically took the high road in his comments to The Chronicle.
In a wild series of events earlier this week with the Giants signing Correa early, the team informed Crawford that he would be moving on to another position, only to have Correa’s offer taken off the table due a problem with his physical exam.
It made Crawford, a four-time Gold Glover, three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion — and a player who finished fourth in National League MVP voting two years ago — the shortstop of the Giants again.
Admittedly surprised by the circumstances, Crawford was ready to adapt accordingly.
“At the end of the day, my feelings in all of this don’t really matter,” he said via text message. Was I a little taken aback when I found out about the deal? Yes definitely.
Was I even more surprised when I found out that (Correa) wasn’t signing with us and signing with the Mets? totally. We would have been a better team with a player of his caliber, regardless of my role. »
The Giants postponed and then canceled a Tuesday morning press conference to introduce Correa. The free agent, his family and business leaders had gathered in San Francisco for the official announcement of the 13-year contract. Correa same
went shopping in Lafayette.
But after Correa’s camp learned that the Giants were having doubts, his agent,
Scott Boras, start looking elsewhere
and quickly find a
$315 million contract over 12 years
with the New York Mets. Thursday, Correa had his physique with the Mets, for which he will move to third base to welcome his friend, shortstop Francisco Lindor.
Crawford has been immensely popular with fans and usually spends more time signing autographs than any of his teammates. He put his team first when he agreed to a job change in anticipation of the addition of Correa, and even helped recruit Aaron Judge when the Giants made their $360 million pitch to the American League MVP, another player moving to New York as a destination.
Many Giants fans on social media expressed their support for Crawford throughout Correa’s chaos and felt comfortable watching him play another season at shortstop, the only position he has. played in his 12-year majors career.
“No reason to speculate what it would have been at this point,” Crawford texted. Personally, yes, I’m happy to stay at shortstop partly because it’s the only position I’ve played at the major league level, but also because I still feel like I can do it very well. To do.
We have also added other elements in recent weeks that I am confident will help us compete in 2023 and beyond. We are a better team today than a month ago.
The Giants have yet to make team officials, including president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi or anyone from the property, available to comment on the decision to let Correa walk away, but on Friday, we learned that they
He accepted contracts with two other free agentsoutfielder Michael Conforto and reliever Taylor Rogers.
Earlier, the Giants signed the outfielder
Mitch Haniger
and pitchers
Sean Manea
and
Ross Striplin.
Crawford, who turns 36 in January, had one of his best seasons in 2021, posting a career-high in OPS and winning his fourth Golden Glove, but took a step back last season in part at due to injuries, including an inflamed left knee that sent him to the injured list twice. The owners’ lockout last winter prevented Crawford from doing his normal pre-season preparation with the team’s coaches and trainers, which he benefited from going into his productive 2020 and 2021 seasons.
During the final weeks of last season, as his knee felt better, Crawford played more defensively like his former Golden Glove, making many outstanding plays with his range, glove and arm.
When asked in September if he would consider switching positions if the Giants landed a big shortstop, Crawford said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I’m not going to speculate. Nothing has changed. I still plan to play shortstop next year.
That, indeed, now seems to be the plan.
John Shea is the national baseball writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey
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