Brandon Crawford was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2008 and spent his entire 13-season MLB career with the team — until now. Crawford signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals this week, and his departure from the only franchise he knew was a bitter one.
Crawford spoke at length with The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly for a story that was published on Friday. In his interview, Crawford made it clear that the Giants did not want him back for 2024.
“The bottom line is I was not wanted back by the one person whose (opinion) matters,” said Crawford, referring to Giants front-office executive Farhan Zaidi. “So I went with a team that gave me a major-league contract.”
Crawford said only one opportunity was offered to him by the Giants.
“I was told I could earn the last spot on the roster like anyone else could as a non-roster invitee. That was the nail in the coffin,” he added.
Crawford wanted to return to the Giants for a 14th season, saying that would have been ideal. He said he even offered to come off the bench and serve as a veteran mentor, but Zaidi still turned him down.
Zaidi also spoke with Baggarly and confirmed Crawford offered to change his role. However, Zaidi said he felt it would be best to start fresh and not have Crawford on the bench looming while rookie Marco Luciano tried to develop.
The end result is that the 37-year-old Crawford is now continuing his career in St. Louis for potentially his last year in MLB.
Crawford batted just .194 with a .587 OPS over 93 games last season. The veteran shortstop was an All-Star as recently as 2021, when he hit .298, had a .373 on-base percentage, .522 slugging percentage, 24 home runs, 90 RBI, 79 runs scored and 11 stolen bases — all of which were career-high marks.
Crawford is expected to serve as a backup and mentor to Masyn Winn in St. Louis.
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