The Cardinals have made no secret of the fact that third base is a problem they still need to solve for 2027, and one name now sitting in that mix is J.P. Crawford.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic recently paired the top 40 free agents with possible landing spots, and Crawford came off the board as a fit for both St. Louis and the Minnesota Twins. Bowden listed him as the 38th-ranked free agent and projected a two-year, $20 million deal - the kind of price tag that makes sense for a player who will be 32 for the entire 2027 season.
Bowden also pointed to the way Crawford handled a position change this year. “Crawford moved from shortstop to third base this season to make room for rookie Colt Emerson and did so without complaining, showing great selflessness and leadership,” Bowden wrote. That sort of experience and steadiness would have obvious appeal for a Cardinals club trying to patch a hole while keeping an eye on younger options.
The need is real. Last season, Nolan Gorman, Ramon Urias, Thomas Saggese, and Blaze Jordan all spent time at third base, and St.
Louis finished 25th in MLB in bWAR from the position. In other words, the bar is low - and the front office knows it.
Crawford has already been flagged as a Cardinals possibility by Gabe Simonds of VivaElBirdos, who wrote in early October, “If you want to improve at 3B, this will not exactly excite people. I’m trying to be realistic,” Simonds wrote.
“Crawford could be the boring, but effective signing to vastly improve 3B, admittedly because of how low the bar is, but still. He’s left-handed and a career 110 wRC+ hitter against RHP.”
That fits the profile of a stopgap rather than a long-term answer. Crawford’s 2027 season ended with a .221/.335/.352 line, 14 home runs, and a 105 wRC+ across 116 games and 489 plate appearances. The overall production was solid, if not exactly eye-catching, and it came with sub-par defense at shortstop plus a still-developing profile at third.
Shortstop, in particular, looks like a spot he should no longer handle. He has not been a positive defender there since 2024 and has been a negative defender at the position over his career.
At third, though, there was at least some encouragement last year. He logged only 254.1 innings there, but graded out as neutral in Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average, and Fielding Run Value.
For St. Louis, that kind of profile could work in a platoon setup with Thomas Saggese or Blaze Jordan. Crawford posted a 110 wRC+ last year against right-handed pitching, which would match well with the right-handed bats of Jordan and Saggese.
And if the Cardinals miss on Crawford, the market doesn’t offer much help. Alec Bohm has also been linked to them, while Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato could be a fit too - though the source material notes that he would likely cost too much and require too much long-term commitment for the Cardinals to pursue seriously. Whoever ends up at third in 2027 is expected to be a placeholder anyway, with Jesus Baez likely to take over later in the year and then into 2028 and beyond.
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