Former Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford is signing a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals pending a physical, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area confirmed Monday.
The Athletic's Katie Woo first reported on the deal between Crawford and the Cardinals.
News of Crawford's deal with the Cardinals came a few hours after Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that St. Louis was “It is believed to have great interest” by adding the 13-year MLB veteran.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch later reported, citing a source, that there is mutual interest between Crawford and the Cardinals.
Crawford found a new home after the Giants signed two-time Gold Glove winner Nick Ahmed to a minor league contract earlier Monday.
The Cardinals will likely use Crawford as a backup shortstop behind presumptive starter Masyn Winn, a top 21-year-old prospect who finished the 2023 MLB season in St. Louis.
Crawford, who spent all 13 years of his MLB career with the Giants, hinted at his desire to play in 2024. His agent confirmed to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle in November that the 37-year-old was open to continuing his career. .
With the Giants envisioning Marco Luciano as their shortstop of the future, the franchise gave Crawford an ejection in the 2023 regular season finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They never called it retirement and he never suggested that was his plan.
Despite Crawford's importance to the Giants since his MLB debut in 2011, the team was ready to move in a different direction with his production steadily declining. After a career year in 2021, he followed up with disappointing seasons in 2022 and 2023.
But the Cardinals, a team loaded with veterans, presented the right opportunity for Crawford, who will don a different jersey for the first time in his MLB career.
It will probably take a little time for Giants fans to get used to seeing Crawford dressed in cardinal red.
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