John Paul Crawford was born on January 11, 1995, he is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB).
After growing up in Lakewood, California, Crawford attended Lakewood High School, where he achieved recognition for his athletic performance; Crawford also was considered one of the nation’s best teenage baseball players.
The 16th pick overall in the 2013 MLB draft, Crawford began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies as an exceptional defensive infielder and was considered the organization’s top prospect for much of his rise through their minor league system.
He was promoted to the major league ball club, in 2017, playing at his natural position and third base. Prior to the 2019 season, Crawford was traded to the Mariners.
On June 19, 2021, Crawford hit his first career grand slam off of Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Josh Fleming. He finished the 2021 season batting .273/.338/.376 with 9 home runs and 54 RBIs. He led all shortstops with 222 putouts.
On March 22, 2022, Crawford signed a $4.85 million contract with the Mariners, avoiding salary arbitration. Then, on April 8, 2022, Crawford and the Mariners reached a 5-year $51 million contract extension.
During a June 26 game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium, a bench-clearing brawl ensued after teammate Jesse Winker was hit in the thigh by an alleged beanball from Angels pitcher Andrew Wantz.
Winker later hen got into an altercation with Ryan Tepera, in which Crawford was seen throwing punches at Tepera. Crawford, along with several other players from both the Mariners and Angels, was ejected from the game, with this being Crawford’s first career ejection.
J.P. Crawford signed a 5 year / $51,000,000 contract with the Seattle Mariners, including a $5,000,000 signing bonus, $51,000,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $10,200,000. In 2022, Crawford will earn a base salary of $5,000,000 and a signing bonus of $5,000,000, while carrying a total salary of $6,000,000.