Mariners: 3 reasons why Ty France should start at third base

Ty France has been the hottest Mariners hitter this Spring Training and is looking like an early All-Star candidate. The Mariners offense is deep with talent already and Scott Servais has a lot of tough decisions to make.

I’ll make Servais’ job easier… start Ty France at third base. Here are three reasons why:

Reason no. 1 – We need to learn if Ty France is the Mariners 3B of the future

You might be wondering what I plan on doing with Kyle Seager. First things first, the fan-favorite won’t be on the baseball field for much longer as much as I hate to say it. Seager has had an illustrious career in Seattle and will be remembered as one of the best infielders to play in a Mariners uniform.

But, the focus is on the future. We were long concerned about who would replace Kyle Seager, but Ty France has clearly made a name for himself. At the moment, there aren’t any prospects vying for third base in the near term so Ty is our best option. You could consider Noelvi Marte as the next third baseman of Seattle, but that is still a long way out.

So, I think France should be Seattle’s third baseman for the next five years. But with any decision, it always helps to test it out like a science project.

We need to give him lots of reps at third to see how things work out. I fully acknowledge that his defense has been questionable but he is only 26-years-old. With the close attention of Coach Perry Hill, I am sure France can make huge strides defensively. Plus, he is teammates with a Gold Glove third baseman and I am sure they have worked together already.

In his short two-year MLB career, France owns a .967 fielding percentage at third. He also has a minus eight zone fielding runs above average per year, and three defensive runs saved per year.

The more game time he can get, the more chances he will get to improve. He might be somewhat of a liability this season, but the hope is that he won’t be a liability in the long term. If we learn that Ty France isn’t good enough to play third, at least we tried and learned from it.

For those of you that might want Ty France to be the DH, the next page will clarify some of my thinking. But from a long-term perspective, it might be useful to leave the DH spot flexible and open for other players.

Pretty soon, the Mariners outfield could look like Taylor Trammell, Jarred Kelenic, and Kyle Lewis. Notice how I left off Mitch Haniger? The Mariners outfielder might be the future Mariners DH, so it helps to have France over at third and keep DH open.

Now onto reason number two.

Reason no. 2 – Mariners legend Kyle Seager isn’t the same player

I love Kyle, and always will. But there comes a time when the Mariners future becomes the priority, and that time is now. I am not suggesting that Seattle should just give up on him and trade him/release him/bench him, but I suggest slotting him in at DH. I want Ty France to take at least 80% of the reps at third, while Kyle takes the remaining 20%.

One big reason for me is Seager’s defense has continued to decline over the years. His defensive WAR reached a career-low in 2018 (-0.5) and he posted another negative WAR in 2020 (-0.4). When he won the Gold Glove in 2014, he posted a 2.2 dWAR.

Seager’s defensive runs saved have also been trending in the wrong direction. In 2018, he posted -10 defensive runs saved, minus one in 2019, and -13 in 2020. During his Gold Glove season, he saved 15 defensive runs.

I am sure much of this has to do with age so why not give him breaks? Playing 162 games is tough and if we want to see Kyle in a Mariners jersey for a longer time, we should take his health into more consideration.

The less time he spends on the infield grinding, the longer we might be able to extend his career. If Seager wants to be a part of the #SeaUsRise Mariners, he probably won’t be playing third anyways. So, he could practice being the future DH, beginning this year.

Who knows, if we let Kyle focus more on his hitting maybe it will help him get back to his All-Star season and hit .268 with 25 home runs. There have been plenty of veterans who have produced at Seager’s age and maybe it’s time he reverts to that veteran DH role like Nelson Cruz.

One last thing, I want Kyle Seager to start at third on Opening Day for celebratory reasons but after that, it should mostly be France at the hot corner.

Last but not least, reason number three.