2:33pm: The move is now official. Moore was placed on the 10-day IL and righty Chasen Bradford was optioned to create roster space.
10:49am: The Mariners are promoting young infielders J.P. Crawford and Shed Long in advance of this weekend’s series against the Red Sox, per Corey Brock of The Athletic (Twitter link). Both players are on their way to Boston to join the club. The pair of promotions comes after Dee Gordon exited Thursday’s game against the Yankees after taking a fastball to the wrist. Infielder Dylan Moore, too, is being hampered by a wrist injury and had been slated to undergo testing to determine the root of the issue.
Both Crawford and Long are considered potential long-term pieces in the Seattle infield. Each arrived in the organization this winter as part of general manger Jerry Dipoto’s whirlwind of trades to “re-imagine” the roster moving forward. Crawford, the 16th pick in the 2013 draft, was long considered to be the Phillies’ shortstop of the future and for years ranked among the game’s top 20 overall prospects. However, he was the key piece acquired by Seattle in the trade that sent Jean Segura to Philadelphia, and it’s now the Mariners who hope that Crawford can lock down the shortstop position for the foreseeable future. He’s not ranked among the organization’s top prospects due to the fact that he has too much big league service time to technically be considered a prospect anymore, but the organization nevertheless views him as a vital long-term cog.
Long, meanwhile, will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game and is widely considered to be one of Seattle’s best farmhands. The Mariners thought highly enough of Long to trade last season’s second-round pick, outfielder Josh Stowers, to the Yankees in a straight-up swap for him back in January — barely seven months after the draft. The Yankees had just acquired Long as part of the trade that sent Sonny Gray to Cincinnati, though the Mariners’ interest in Long predated that three-team swap. He’s played second base, third base and left field with the Mariners organization this season, though second base or left field seems to be his likeliest long-term home. Long draws praise for above-average power and speed, and he has a track record of drawing walks at a healthy clip to help offset a strikeout rate in the 22 to 23 percent range.
To this point in the season, the 24-year-old Crawford is hitting .319/.420/.457 with three homers, seven doubles, three steals and nearly as many walks (19) as strikeouts (25) through 138 plate appearances in Triple-A Tacoma. The 23-year-old Long, meanwhile, is hitting .276/.350/.504 with five homers, 10 doubles and four triples while posting 14 walks against 31 strikeouts (also in 138 plate appearances).
The arrival of both well-regarded young infielders likely signals a trip to the injured list for Gordon and/or Moore, and given how important they are to the Mariners’ future, both will probably be afforded everyday at-bats. That’ll likely cut into the playing time of Tim Beckham, although the veteran infielder’s bat has predictably cooled after a torrid start to the season. Beckham hit .410/.477/.846 through his first 10 games but has turned in just a .206/.260/.361 batting line with a 35.5 percent strikeout rate in 104 plate appearances since.
From a service-time vantage point, even if both infielders stay in the Majors from this point forth, the Mariners will control Crawford for five years beyond the 2019 campaign and control Long for six. Crawford came into the season with a year and 20 days of MLB service under his belt, but there are only 144 days remaining in the 2019 campaign, so he can’t reach the 172-day mark he’d need to cross the threshold into two full years of Major League service time. The promotion could very well put both players on track for Super Two status, which would make them both eligible for arbitration four times rather than three — Crawford beginning after the 2020 season and Long beginning after the 2021 campaign. All of that, of course, could change depending on whether either is optioned back to Tacoma.
Ok, but did anyone else see Encarnacion play the 8th inning at 2nd base? It was epic!
Saw him hurt his wrist.
Well he sucks… I never fully understood the hype on this kid. He never performed in the minors, yet because a prospect list kept him highly ranked everyone was expecting him to perform at a level he never showed he could perform at. Literally, not once did he give real reason for excitement
Basically every prospect list (not just one) kept him highly ranked because the people who write those lists have experience evaluating players themselves and are also well-connected in the scouting community and constantly get input and feedback on their rankings from pro scouts.
There’s a lot more to a prospect than looking at his stats on B-Ref, and a large part of Crawford’s appeal has always been that he’s a shortstop with strong defensive tools, excellent plate discipline and low strikeout rates.
But, you did say “literally,” so I guess that settles things. (Shrug)
i will say i never got the allure while he was coming up the system, but i understand a bit better in hindsight. (basically for the reasons Steve noted)
He’s hit great in AAA this year.
He impressed in 2017, then went on to be an injured yo-yo in 2018. His stock dipped because of that, but he had shown his potential even before this season.
A blind man swinging a sausage could hit in the PCL this year. Crawford has certainly reached the point in his career that he has to show something in the major leagues, not the minor league equivalent of slow-pitch softball.
Alright buddy.
Fan of the division rival of the team who drafted him declares he sucks based on a small sample size
Less than convincing analysis when you break it down, I must admit…
Maybe not the next big thing, but certainly wouldn’t write him off just yet.
As a Bucco fan, I think you have him confused with someone like Erik Gonzalez, former top prospect who is now 27 can’t hit and is overrated as a reliable defender.
I bet Steve would agree with that.
Ps that was in response to bravesfan.
I agree with Petrie, just replied wrong.
I know how people attack first, assess later now’a days. Lol
One will clearly be optioned down when Dee Gordon comes back. The other might be when Moore comes back. One might take Moore’s spot on the roster, but neither will take Gordon’s. Unless he is traded, and since this is DiPoto we are talking about, there is only an 80% chance of that happening.
Let’s just hope they get to play and they dont get called up to ride the bench like Braden Bishop is doing. This organization has always made every excuse in the world to call up their prospects just so they can sit.
its the debate over consistent playing time vs major league experience. its hard to tell what each player will benefit more from.
If you’re sitting your assss on a major league bench 5/6 games a week you aren’t learning a hell of a lot. You’re going up to the plate cold without any consistent playing time to get in a groove. 90% of the teams don’t do it for a reason. In bishops case he might be a good prospect by the Mariners pre “retool” standards but he projects as a fourth outfielder and really doesn’t have the minor league numbers that tell you he’d be anymore.
Crawford will be a god send at SS over Beckham. I really like Beckham but he is suited more for utility roles over starter. Shed long is a spark plug like Dee so that will no doubly help the clubhouse. For as bad as we have played over the last 3 weeks the team is still squarely in the thick of it for a season they aren’t suppose to be. If Crawford and long take off and Seager comes back there will be trades coming. I’d argue it’s time to listen on Haniger with how our minor league OF are preforming. Kelenic is getting high praise and Kyle Lewis and Thompson are playing great as well. That still doesn’t even mention Jake fraley and Julio Rodriquez. The OF depth is incredible at this point. Haniger could help you acquire a younger SP that is near or at mlb level. Setting up 20/21 to be great seasons for the mariners.
I would agree though Haniger isn’t having the best of seasons and we sure aren’t selling low on him so maybe he picks it up by the deadline and we can get 2 top 100 prospects for him. One being a pitcher
Not to worry, Mariners fans — Shed can take it from here.
Funny that Dee Gordon is so fast around the base paths but not fast enough to get out of the way of Happs rocket 90mph fastball.
Great false equivalency.
If JPC is the long term answer, I’d hate to see the question.
I know you’re trying to say that you think JP Crawford is bad, but this attempted insult makes no sense haha.
If the shed is long, is that more of a barn or a garage?
I hope Shed’s not made of “fall apart-icle” board
One of the best names in MLB
I hope JP Crawford has improved significantly since last season. When I saw him, and I subscribe to and watch nearly every MLB game, he seemed to have slow reactions both sides of the game..
“You must defeat Shed Long to stand a chance”
I hope Shed Long goes yard.
I agree that Crawford has been over rated.Perhaps he will take advantage of this chance in the ML but he may soon be running out of chances if he does not.