Rejuvenated Ty France is making Mariners' first base problem look even worse

The Seattle Mariners have their fans feeling some good vibes, after coming through a six-game homestand versus the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers with an impressive 5-1 record. However, despite climbing back to .500 and within reach of the AL West summit, this doesn't change the reality the team still has plenty of uncertainty.

At the heart of this remains the quality and stability (or lack thereof) in the infield, chiefly at first base. To date, the combination of Donovan Solano, Rowdy Tellez, and Luke Raley has been extremely underwhelming.

Nowhere is this better illustrated than when you look at the .454 OPS the Mariners are getting so far from first base through 16 games, which is fourth-worst in the Majors. To provide more context, first base has seen the lowest OPS production out of every position on the Mariners so far in 2025.

While maybe not to the extent we've seen to this point, it was always a concern that the Mariners were going to be found wanting at first base after their refusal to think bigger during the offseason, with Pete Alonso being the prime candidate. Making this all even more frustrating for fans, is the success one of the team's former first basemen is having elsewhere this season.

Mariners fans wishing Ty France was still around?

We're talking about Ty France, who has experienced a rejuvenation in Minnesota with the Twins. In stark contrast to the Mariners' collective .454 OPS at first base, France owns the position in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and has produced a .795 OPS ahead of Tuesday's slate of Major League games.

On top of this, France also has just a 7.7 strikeout rate through the Twins' first 17 games of the season. This is significantly below his career 18.1 strikeout rate, alluding to more confidence and discipline than ever at the plate.

Even allowing for the fact that it's still early in the 2025 campaign, this does make you wonder if the Mariners have any sellers' remorse after the decision to trade France to Cincinnati last July. And that's even allowing for him ending the season with career worsts of a .365 slugging percentage, .670 OPS and -0.6 WAR.

As much as France did struggle badly in Seattle during 2024, this was no different to the majority of the lineup. (In fact, there were a number of players who performed worse than him.) The offense only started playing closer to their collective potential once Dan Wilson came on board as manager, and it begs the question of how the 30-year-old might have benefited from the experience and calmness of the Mariners Hall of Fame catcher?

Let's not forget, this is still the same player who was renowned for being a natural hitter and someone who produced for the Mariners almost as soon as he arrived in a trade from San Diego back in August of 2020. The 2021 season saw France register a career-high 4.2 WAR and the following year he was rewarded with the first All-Star selection of his Major League career.

A case of 'what if' for the Mariners with Ty France

This is not to downplay the reality that France did have his issues after this, with a concerning gradual decline in productivity which the Mariners eventually decided they could no longer fix. Again though, there is the 'what if' scenario of what Wilson — and by extension Edgar Martínez — could have done to help the Downey, California native.

France's success with the Twins also brings to mind Jorge Polanco's own turnaround in fortunes this season in Seattle. The irony in this, is that the Mariners could have followed a similar route with France, as they took this past offseason with Polanco.

If the Mariners had held onto France instead of trading him to Cincinnati, he would have been projected by MLB Trade Rumors to make $8.6 million in arbitration for this season. The front office could have done a non-tender and re-signed him for less, like how they re-signed Polanco for $7.75 million after declining a $12 million option for 2025.

We appreciate there are no guarantees that France would have been having a similar level of success if he had remained with the Mariners, or that he would have even agreed to a new deal to remain in Seattle. (Although we feel more confident on that second point, given he ended up signing a one-year, $1 million deal with the Twins.) However, it doesn't change the fact that the Mariners have been left wanting at first base so far this year, while their one-time All-Star is almost taunting them with how well he's playing in Minnesota.

Recent Posts