Mariners' experiment with J.P. Crawford at third base is breaking fans' hearts

J.P. Crawford is the longest tenured player in Seattle, a clubhouse leader and generally well-liked by teammates. His 5.2 bWAR in 2023 is the best ever in a season by a Mariners shortstop not named Alex Rodriguez and he has a Gold Glove to his name. However, what we've been seeing since his move to third base has only reinforced that he's a defensive liability for a team with World Series aspirations.

Crawford has still been productive at the plate, particularly when he hits first, as evidenced by a .262/.376/.469 slash line and .845 OPS. Further, he's not the only Mariner who has struggled defensively this season, with Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena among the other major culprits. However, unfortunately for M's fans, Crawford is proving to be almost as inept at third base as he previously was at shortstop.

Crawford had been a declining defensive asset since 2022, but it was worse than ever to start this season. Sure he began the 2026 campaign on the Injured List due to dealing with right shoulder inflammation during spring training, but that could only be used as an excuse for so long. It eventually got to the point when the Mariners no choice but to move him. (His -3.4 defensive fWAR remains third-worst among all qualifying shortstops as of today.)

Genuine reason for hope after J.P. Crawford offered to move to third base

Credit where it's due, and providing more evidence that Crawford is the consummate teammate, he made the offer in the first place to try out at third base. Obviously the main benefit of such a move was getting Colt Emerson playing at the position where he's best suited, and expected to be for the next decade.

However, there were other reasons to be optimistic about the defensive shuffle, with Crawford theoretically not being as exposed at the hot corner, at least based on where ground balls have been hit to in 2026. And things seemed to be going well, with encouraging plays such as this one during the Red Sox series:

Unfortunately for everyone concerned, what seemed like a budding success story was quickly turned on its head, with disastrous results during the three-game series in Pittsburgh this past week. Crawford made not one, not two, but three errors which had varying degrees of ramifications.

We can forgive the fielding error, as the ball gets on you quick there, and Crawford's enough of a pro to adjust. However, the harsh reality is that the throwing has been bad all year. Between the velocity and the accuracy, he might have the worst arm of any infielder.

The defensive analytics look bad all around for J.P. Crawford

Critics can argue all they want about statistics and analytics not always measuring up, or truly being reflective of a player's value. However, it's tough to die on this hill, when Crawford is -6 in DRS, in the lowest percentile in Range (OAA) and just above that in the second percentile for overall Fielding Run Value.

We will throw out a bone that it's still early-ish in the experiment, with Crawford having started just eight games at third base. However, there's every justifiable reason to be concerned for what lies ahead, with no one wanting to see him go out like this.

Let's also keep in mind if Crawford fails it causes a scary situation, given that Brendan Donovan didn't look like the answer at the position either, prior to going on the Injured List for the second time this season with a left groin muscle strain. It almost feels like the Mariners are in a no-win situation at third base.

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