Cardinals release Brandon Crawford and option Jordan Walker

The Cardinals announced today that infielder Matt Zimmerman was removed from the injured list, while his infielder colleague Luke Baker was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. In appropriate steps, the club has released the outfielder Jordan Walker and grants infielder Brandon Crawford his unconditional release.

Crawford, 37, signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals in the offseason with a modest salary of $2 million. It seemed as if he was a kind of veteran insurance for rookies Masyn Winnwhom the club wanted to use as an everyday shortstop. It was a sensible move at the time, as Winn had only played in 37 major league games to start the year, hitting just .172/.230/.238.

But here in 2024, Winn has lived up to his hype for the future. He has 11 home runs and a slash of .274/.324/.419, which translates to a wRC+ of 108. His work on the glove has resulted in 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 3 Outs Above Average as a shortstop, and he has also stolen 10 bases. His all-around contributions have led FanGraphs to credit him with 2.8 Wins Above Replacement, which is the third-best mark among National League rookies, just behind MichaelJackson And Tyler Fitzgerald.

While Winn has done all of that, Crawford has barely been used. Despite being on the active roster all season, he only appeared in 29 games and was called to bat just 80 times. In that sporadic season, he slashed at an uncharacteristic 32.5%, hitting .169/.263/.282 for a wRC+ of 58. Perhaps it's been difficult for Crawford to get going with so little time on the roster, but this poor performance is actually not far off from last year's, when he hit .194/.273/.314 for the Giants and posted a wRC+ of 62.

Regardless of the cause, Crawford's performance and the emergence of Winn have led to his being cut from the roster. This will likely leave the all-around player Brendan Donovan to replace Winn at shortstop for the Cardinals. Perhaps Baker can bring new momentum to the lineup, as he hit 32 home runs and has a 14.8% walk rate in Triple-A this year.

Rather than placing Crawford on waivers and forcing him to go wherever he's sent, the Cards gave him some agency over his next steps by releasing him. His brief time in St. Louis will likely become another piece of esoteric trivia for the Giants legend.

Any team could sign Crawford now for the prorated league minimum, with that amount deducted from what the Cardinals are paying. Interest may have been dampened by his recent run of poor results, but he also has a long track record. He has played just under 1,700 major league games since his Giants debut in 2011, with a roughly average offense and very good defensive numbers. In the offseason, he seemed to at least consider retiring before finalizing the deal with the Cards, which may be back on the table if he doesn't get a tantalizing opportunity in the coming weeks.

For Walker, this is the latest time he's experienced inconsistent performance from the Cards. He was recalled just over a week ago when Carpenter went on the injured list and is now back in Memphis after getting just a single hit in 12 batting appearances during Carpenter's absence.

Last year, he made the club's 2023 Opening Day roster on a wave of excitement, but his performance was inconsistent throughout the year. Despite being optioned for a while last summer, he was recalled and posted a .277/.346/.455 batting average from early June through the end of the year, resulting in a wRC+ of 119.

But here in 2024, he got off to a rough start and was cut before the end of April. His .257/.321/.426 batting average in Triple-A this year results in a below-average 92 wRC+, but he was still recalled to briefly fill in for Carpenter.

It's a strange situation for him as he's still trying to really break through and establish himself at the major league level, but now the clock is ticking a bit. Since he made the roster last year but had an option in two consecutive seasons, he'll only have one option left after this one, even though he's only 22 years old. If he exhausts his last option next year, he might be out of options by 2026, which will be his 24th season.