Former Mariners All-Star on track for 2025 resurgence with AL rival

When the Seattle Mariners first acquired Ty France in August of 2020, it seemed like they had landed a versatile infielder whose bat would carry them to the promised land for many years to come.

Sure enough, the former 34th-round (which doesn't even exist anymore) pick came to Seattle and saw his career blossom. In 2021 and 2022, he was no less than 25 percent above league average by OPS+ and he recorded a combined 59 doubles, 38 home runs, 156 RBI and a .794 OPS through 292 games. The 7.4 bWAR he posted in that stretch is nothing to scoff at either.

For reasons unknown, France's production began to decline in 2023 and he was barely a contributor at all to the 2024 Mariners. This forced the club to move on from him and end what had at one point been an extremely solid tenure in the organization. His abysmal second-half showing on the Cincinnati Reds last year proved the Mariners made the right choice.

However, as we so frequently see in today's game, France has latched on with an American League rival — the Minnesota Twins — and his early spring training results are suggesting a major bounce-back may be in store.

Ty France looks to be on track for 2025 resurgence with AL rival

Sure, the sample size is still a bit small, as spring training has only just begun, but France is now 7-for-13 with a pair of doubles, two walks and a 1.523 OPS that'd automatically earn him the MVP Award...if this was the end of the year and he did it over the course of a full season.

Instead, it's prime overreaction season. France has shown at times over the course of his career that there is legitimate All-Star potential in there. He was quietly one of the most productive and valuable infielders in the AL West for a solid two-year stretch, so there's no reason to believe that he's fully done.

Seeing players move on and then find themselves again is never fun, but France was beloved on the Mariners, and it's still nice to see him find his footing a bit on a new club. As things currently stand, he's projected to be the Twins' primary first baseman to open the upcoming regular season, so the Mariners are still going to be seeing quite a bit of him in the near future.