Earlier this week, the Seattle Mariners made it known they are not interested in a reunion with veteran infielder J.P. Crawford this offseason.

I'll be honest: I was surprised at that development.

After all, Crawford, to me, still offers some things that the Mariners need. He had 14 home runs last season in just 116 games, so he still has some power. He had an OBP that was more than 100 points greater than his batting average, so he still offers solid plate discipline and the ability to get on base.

And while he doesn't play great defense anymore, he does offer some positional flexibility at shortstop or third base, which could be important for this team.

I do not believe that Crawford is a consistent starter for the Mariners anymore, but I was surprised to see the team close the door on him so soon. I figured that his skillset, coupled with his probable price point, coupled with his desire to be back in Seattle, would have made him appealing to the Mariners.

However, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney is not surprised to see Seattle cut ties with the longstanding infielder. He said this on the most recent "Refuse to Lose Territory" podcast.

"No, and I'll tell you why. Because I don't think that teams these days, um, you look at the offensive performance of last year and you would assume that, given his age, there's the chance that it's not going to necessarily get better as you go forward.

I think teams want their bench players to have some acute tool. And if you're looking at JP right now as a player, I think from the Mariners' perspective, you might be asking the question, what is his acute tool that he's bringing to the table?

Can he mash against lefties? Can he mash against righties? Is he an elite defender? Is he a guy you could stick in and he could steal your base? Is he a power hitter you can bring off the bench?

It doesn't feel like that he necessarily checks any of those boxes."

From that perspective, Olney might be right. He provides some good qualities, but nothing that stands out as "acute," especially if he's coming off the bench. 

Acquired before the 2019 season, Crawford spent eight eight years in Seattle after two years with the Philadelphia Phillies. Now about to be 32 years old, Crawford has played the most games at shortstop in the history of the franchise. A Gold Glover in 2020, he is a .245 career hitter with 81 homers and 384 RBIs.

He hit a career-high 19 homers in 2023 and he led the American League in walks (94) that same season.

While some people have actively discounted the idea, there's absolutely a chance that Crawford ends up in the team's Hall of Fame some day.

The Mariners have left the general manager's meetings and will try to make some moves before the probable Dec. 1 lockout. The Mariners appear locked in on free agent slugger Seiya Suzuki, who spent the previous five years with the Chicago Cubs. They are reportedly trying to get an in-person meeting with Suzuki before the lockout starts.

We examined some of the reasons why the Mariners could be interested in signing Suzuki instead of retaining Randy Arozarena, here.