Brandon Crawford, the most decorated shortstop in San Francisco Giants history, may have the right to be critical of the Carlos Correa situation following the organization’s $350 million bid for a man to fill his position to be. But on Friday, Crawford characteristically took the main route in his op-ed for The Chronicle.
In a frantic series of events earlier this week with the Giants’ anticipated signing of Correa, the team told Crawford he was moving to another position, only to have Correa’s offer taken off the table over an issue with his physical exam .
That 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 Giants’ shortstop again.
Admittedly surprised by the circumstances, Crawford was prepared to adjust accordingly.
“Bottom line, my feelings play no part in any of this,” he said via text message. “Was I a little surprised when I found out about the agreement? Yes, definitely.
“Was I even more surprised to find out that (Correa) didn’t sign with us and with the Mets? Total. With a player of his caliber we would have been a better team no matter what role I played.”
The Giants postponed and then canceled a Tuesday morning press conference to introduce Correa. The free agent, his family and his executives gathered in San Francisco to officially announce the 13-year deal. Correa even went shopping in Lafayette.
But after the Correa camp heard the Giants were changing their minds, his agent Scott Boras began looking elsewhere and quickly landed a 12-year, $315 million deal with the New York Mets. On Thursday, Correa had his physical with the Mets, for which he will move to third base to house his friend, shortstop Francisco Lindor.
Crawford is immensely popular with fans and typically spends more time signing autographs than any of his teammates. He put his team first when he agreed to change positions to anticipate the addition of Correa and even helped recruit Aaron Judge when the Giants won their $360 million pitch for MVP of the American League, another player who settled in New York as his target.
Many Giants fans on social media expressed their support for Crawford during the Correa chaos and took solace in seeing him play another season at shortstop, the only position he played in his 12-year majors career Has.
“No reason to speculate what that would have been at this point,” Crawford wrote. “Personally yes, I’m happy I’ll be staying at shortstop, partly because that’s the only position I’ve played in the major leagues, but also because I still feel like I’m doing very well can.
“We’ve also added a few other pieces over the past few weeks that I’m confident will help us compete in 2023 and beyond. We are a better team today than we were a month ago.”
The Giants have yet to provide team officials, including baseball operations president Farhan Zaidi or anyone owned by them, to state their side of the decision to let Correa go, but news broke Friday that they have contracts with two other free agents have agreed. outfielder Michael Conforto and reliever Taylor Rogers.
Previously, the Giants had signed outfielder Mitch Haniger and pitchers Sean Manaea and Ross Stripling.
Crawford, who turns 36 in January, enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2021, posting a career-high in OPS and clinching his fourth Gold Glove but retired last season in part due to injuries including an inflamed left knee that he was twice sent to the injured list. Last winter’s owners lockout prevented Crawford from conducting his normal preseason preparation with team coaches and coaches, which he capitalized on into his productive 2020 and 2021 seasons.
In the final weeks of last season, with his knee feeling better, Crawford played more like his old Gold Glove self on defense, making many standout plays with his reach, glove and arm.
When asked in September if he would consider shifting positions if the Giants landed a big-money shortstop, Crawford had said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I will not speculate. Nothing has changed. I’m still planning to play shortstop next year.”
That actually seems to be the plan now.
John Shea is the national baseball writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @JohnSheaHey