Mariners activate shortstop J.P. Crawford from 10-day injured list ahead of series against Angels

To make room for Crawford, infielder Ryan Bliss was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma and right-hander Ryan Loutos was placed on unconditional release waivers

Crawford was Seattle’s starting shortstop for every opening day since 2019. He was limited to seven spring training games due to his shoulder injury and batted .143 with no extra-base hits.

On Tuesday, Mariners manager Dan Wilson said Crawford was progressing well.

“He’s been really on track,” Wilson said, “and in some ways ahead of where you would think because of spring training and getting opportunities to get as many at-bats as possible and that kind of thing. So, excited that he’s getting close.”

Top shortstop prospect Colt Emerson could also be close to joining the Mariners. Emerson agreed to a $95 million, eight-year deal with the team, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The contract, which starts this season and includes a team option for 2034, would be the largest ever for a player who has not made his major league debut. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced.

Emerson batted .278 with one home run and a double and a .816 on-base percentage plus slugging in four games for Triple-A Tacoma. He appeared in 18 spring training games for the Mariners and batted .268 with two homers and eight RBIs and an .828 OPS.

Emerson is believed to be Seattle’s shortstop of the future, and will one day replace Crawford, who's the longest-tenured player on the Mariners' roster.

Once Emerson makes it to the big leagues, though, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto suggested that Crawford will stay at shortstop and Emerson will mostly play at third base.

“That was always our plan,” Dipoto said. “It’s why you saw Colt so frequently at third base in the spring is we were preparing for that, and third base came pretty easy for him.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb