DFA’d Mariners 1B Ty France ‘never really got going again’

Jul 23, 2024, 8:20 PM

Ty France of the Seattle Mariners signs autographs before a 2024 game. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

(Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

SEATTLE – The Ty France era started out very promising for the Seattle Mariners, but it came to a likely end on Tuesday quicker than many may have expected just two years ago.

Seattle Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Julio, J.P.

The Mariners designated France for assignment on Tuesday, marking the probable end of a four-plus-season stretch for the first baseman in Seattle. The Mariners have seven days to either trade, release, option or waive France. He has the right to refuse a minor-league assignment and become a free agent due to having over five years of service time in the majors.

“I said it yesterday and I’ll echo it again, Ty was a big part of our offense here for a number of years, deservedly so,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

France came to Seattle in 2020 as part of the four-player return in a deal with the Padres that sent catcher Austin Nola and relievers Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla to San Diego. France immediately became one of the best hitters in the Mariners’ lineup after the trade.

He slashed .302/.362/.453 with eight extra-base hits and 13 RBIs in the 23 games he played with Seattle after the 2020 trade. He followed it with promising 2021 campaign that played a major factor in the Mariners’ improbably 90-win season. France posted a .291/.368/.445 slash line with 32 doubles, 18 home runs and 73 RBIs in 152 games.

The San Diego State product then put together a torrid first half to receive an All-Star Game nod in 2022. France went into the break hitting .308 with an .846 OPS. However, he battled injuries through the second half of 2022 and never regained the form he showed in his first two years as a Mariner.

Since his All-Star selection, France has slashed .239/.320/.367 over 307 games.

“He was very productive hitting the ball all over the field,” Servais said. “One of the tougher guys in the league strike out, the bat-to-ball skills I always raved about. This guy could put the bat on anything, and over time it hasn’t been the case.”

The 30-year-old first baseman was placed on irrevocable waivers on Sunday, which gave MLB teams 48 hours to claim France and pick up the remainder of his 2024 salary, but he went unclaimed.

The decision to move on from France came during what’s been his worst offensive season since reaching the majors in 2019. He was on pace to set career worsts in batting average, slugging percentage, wRC+ and strikeouts. The strikeouts were one of the more alarming developments this season. France’s 24.4% rate was nearly 7% higher than last season and nearly 10% higher than his All-Star campaign in 2022.

Servais said he had a meeting with France early this season and felt the first baseman was starting to turn things around during a solid month of May. France hit .278 and slugged four doubles and five home runs in what looked like a possible breakout that the team had been waiting for since the first half of 2022. However, France’s production took a steep downturn after he was hit by pitch and placed on the injured list with a fractured right heel in early June. After returning from the injury, he hit just .153 with a .225 slugging percentage in 27 games.

“He was out for some time and then he came back and never really got going again,” Servais said. “So I wish Ty the best. A good guy, worked hard when he was here, but it is a business and we’ve got to find ways to improve our club, and sometimes you just have to go with a different flavor and give somebody else a chance and see if they can take it and run with it.

“I do think he’ll land on his feet and be a productive player in this league. I really do. Those skills I don’t think are going away, but didn’t see them coming back here anytime soon.”