Crawford ‘happy' to remain Giants' SS with Correa deal off

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Brandon Crawford's streak of starting at shortstop on MLB Opening Day for the Giants very likely will continue a week after it looked it would come to at abrupt end.

Three days after the Giants' contract agreement with Carlos Correa fell through, Crawford spoke to The San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea about the development and what it means for the final season of his current deal.

“No reason to speculate on what that would’ve been at this point,” Crawford told Shea on Friday though a text message. “Personally, yes, I’m happy I will remain at shortstop partly because that’s the only position I’ve played at the big-league level, but also because I still feel like I can do it very well."

When the Giants and Correa agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract on Dec. 13, Crawford received a call from manager Gabe Kapler and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who told him he would have to move to a new position for the 2023 season.

While it was unclear if Crawford would have moved to third base or second base, he spoke to The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly and didn't seem happy with the idea of changing positions.

A week later, Crawford expanded on his emotions regarding what transpired over the last 10 days.

“Bottom line is my feelings in all this don’t really matter,” Crawford told Shea via text. “Was I a little caught off guard when I found out about the agreement? Yes, definitely.

"Was I even more surprised when I found out (Correa) was not signing with us and signing with the Mets? Totally. We would’ve been a better team with a player of his caliber no matter what my role would’ve been.”

For the better part of a week, the Giants thought Correa was going to be the new face of the franchise, planning to introduce him this past Tuesday in a press conference at Oracle Park. But less than three hours before festivities were set to begin, the team postponed the event. The Associated Press reported a few hours later that a medical issue had come up during Correa's physical.

Multiple sources later confirmed to NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic on Tuesday that the Giants had concerns about an ankle injury Correa sustained while playing in the minor leagues in 2014, causing the team to back away from the record-setting agreement.

About 15 hours after the press conference was postponed, The New York Post's Jon Heyman reported that Correa had reached a new contract agreement with the Mets for 12 years and $315 million.

But Correa's agreement with the Mets has hit a similar snag, as The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes reported Saturday, citing people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly, that New York is expressing the same concerns as the Giants over the former No. 1 overall draft pick's surgically repaired ankle.

RELATED: Giants reportedly add Conforto, Rogers after Correa deal falls through

With Correa no longer joining the Giants, Crawford will remain at shortstop and assuming he's healthy, will start his 12th straight Opening Day at the position when San Francisco opens the 2023 season against Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees on March 30 at Yankee Stadium.

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