Former San Francisco Giants Legend Released By St. Louis Cardinals

The San Francisco Giants franchise staple found a new home in 2024, but didn't last the season.

Jul 14, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Brandon Crawford (35) fields a ground ball against the Chicago Cubs during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

In back-to-back years, the San Francisco Giants saw two legends of the franchise and members of two World Series teams leave. First, Brandon Belt headed to the Toronto Blue Jays to be their DH in 2023, then Brandon Crawford signed a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals this season after San Francisco didn't re-sign him. However, this season did not go as planned for Crawford and he is now on the market.

On Tuesday, St. Louis granted Crawford his unconditional release from the team, making him a free agent. He signed a one year, $2 million deal before the season, but didn't play it out.

The 37-year-old had a rough go of it as a Cardinal. In just 28 games in 2024, the longtime shortstop slashed .169/.262/.282 with a .544 OPS. He hit just one home run and drove in four with a 53 OPS+.

Although he didn't play much with the Cardinals, he was able to travel back and play against the Giants in June. He started one of the games, and against his old team had a first in the big leagues: playing third base. While he was slated to play third if the Giants were to sign Carlos Correa, he had never played a position outside of shortstop in his career.

In two games against San Francisco, Crawford went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Despite his brief stint in St. Louis, Crawford will always be remembered as a Giant. After his 13 year tenure in The Bay, he is all over the team's leaderboards. He is fourth all-time in defensive bWAR and 25th all-time in overall bWAR in franchise history.

He also owns the 16th most hits, eighth most doubles, 13th most total bases and 17th most home runs.

Crawford won four Gold Gloves, one Silver Slugger, made three All-Star teams and was one of the captains of the World Series teams in 2012 and 2014.

It looked like his career was one the downswing heading in 2021, but he had a career year, finishing fourth in NL MVP voting. After that, his decline continued, but he remained an important veteran for the next two seasons while the team went through a rebuilding period.

It is unclear what Crawford's next move will be. He has contemplated retirement in the past, but as it is still the middle of the season, he could sign on with another team to help them down the stretch. That team could be the Giants, which would be a nice reunion on his way out the door.