J.P. Crawford And Rowdy Tellez Being Teammates with Mariners is Over a Decade in The Making

SEATTLE — For some Seattle Mariners players, the hours before a game against T-Mobile Park are often used for some rare down time before first pitch is thrown. Conversation, card games and meals are some ways to relax. Another option? A pool table in the middle of the clubhouse, which is where you'll often find veterans Rowdy Tellez and J.P. Crawford. When the two are done, they return to their lockers, almost right next to each other.

Almost.

"I don't like him," Tellez said jokingly before a game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 3. "I asked for a locker — I asked for two lockers in between (us)."

Crawford, in his ninth season in the majors, has been with the Mariners since 2019 and joins Dylan Moore as the longest-tenured veterans on the team. Tellez, currently in his eighth year in the big leagues, was signed in the offseason to a minor league contract and broke camp with the club.

Despite their difference of experience in Seattle, both have known each other for years. In fact, sharing the same clubhouse is more than a decade in the making.

Crawford and Tellez are both California natives and were highly-touted high school prospects in 2013. Both had pro aspirations, but committed to play college ball at Southern California (USC) as part of a highly-touted class recruited by then-USC coach Frank Cruz. Crawford is from Long Beach, while Tellez is from Sacramento.

"I don't think anybody realizes how good USC was at baseball and what it meant in the state, too," Tellez said. "USC is a very prestigious program and to be a part of it was kind of like a draw for me. You look at a lot of guys around the game, I don't think many attended. But a lot were committed there."

Crawford and Tellez both elected to forego college and went pro. Crawford was viewed as one of the most elite players in the 2013 draft class and was selected with the 16th pick by the Philadelphia Phillies. Tellez was also a highly-touted high school player. Baseball America ranked him No. 59 in their list of 2013 draft prospects. Other notable players in that year's draft class included Sean Manaea, Tim Anderson, Aaron Judge, Kris Bryant and Mark Appel, among (many) others.

Tellez, who committed to USC before Crawford, fell to the 30th round of the 2013 draft and was selected with 895th overall pick by the Toronto Blue Jays. His fall was attributed to his commitment to USC. Teams believed he would choose college over pro ball. Tellez signed an $850,000 signing bonus, a record for a 30th-round pick, and the pair of California natives embarked on their pro careers.

Crawford and Tellez continued to played against against each other in the minor leagues due to several of the Phillies' and Blue Jays' farm clubs being in the same leagues.

"It was good to see people you know coming up, same as you," Crawford said June 3. "You kind of use that as motivation to keep going and maybe one day we can play against each other in the majors and try to do that as fast as possible. Even better now that we're on the same team."

Crawford made his major league debut with Philadelphia in 2017 and Tellez made his with Toronto in 2018.

When Crawford was drafted, he was thought to be the Phillies' shortstop of the future. Instead, he became the Mariners'.

Seattle acquired Crawford in a trade with Philadelphia on Dec. 3, 2018, in one of many big moves of a years-long rebuild.

Tellez was one of the Blue Jays' best players during their playoff push in the 2020 COVID-19-shortened season. He slashed .283/.346/.540 with an .886 OPS, hit eight home runs and had 23 RBIs that season en route to a Wild Card berth.