Mariners Monday Mailbag: Trades, offseason moves, and a premonition about Ty France

4 days off Mariners still awful - From Billy Burleson

I'm not sure if that was a question, but yeah, they kinda still look like the same team we've seen for the last 27 games. They have another week to make changes, then it'll be a 50+ game sprint with Houston.

Do you see the Ms moving on from France and giving Locklear a shot? From Matt Richardson 

To be honest, I had this answer already written up. I originally wrote that I thought Seattle would give Ty France through the Angels series, before making a trade or giving Locklear the reins. After a rewrite thanks to a Seattle Mariners level Passan Bomb, we got our answer about an hour after the game.

The Ty France era is over in Seattle sadly.

It's been a rough two years for France. An all-star in 2022, Ty legitimately should have been the starting first baseman for the American League, but didn't have the popularity votes over Vladimir Guerrero y, who was having a down year, relative to his standards.

France was slashing .308/.376/.470 and an OPS+ of 140. Injuries started to take its toll, and France was unable to ever come remotely close to his all-star form. Since May 31st, France has only 16 hits, with just six doubles and one home run. Unfortunately, it's just time.

So does this mean the future is now for Tyler Locklear in Seattle, or is this a showcase for a young prospect with some potential 1B trade candidates likely on the move?

It's extremely rare to find a young first baseman, let alone a rookie, playing at that position in a pennant race or in the playoffs. You have to go back to rookie Cody Bellinger in the 2017 World Series as the last time a player that young, both age and experience, was playing at that position in the World Series.

I like Locklear and think he's got a great chance to be a real piece for the future in Seattle, but timing is everything in life, and the timing does seem odd. There are multiple sluggers out there right now that could be had in trade talks who could immediately step in and be one of the better hitters in this lineup. There's one player specifically, north of the border, that could immediately alter the dreams and expectations of this team’s hopes of hanging some banners in 2024.

Is this a tryout for Locklear, or as Passan tweeted, the gig is his. I believe the guy is his, for the next 6 games, but I believe a trade is coming soon, and may very well likely involve Locklear leaving to make room for a “dynamic” addition.