Ty France’s remarkable post-Mariners career could be nearing life-changing payday

Ty France hasn't had the most straightforward professional baseball career. He was taken by the Padres in the 34th round of the 2015 draft and made under 300 plate appearances for San Diego before being traded to the Mariners (along with Andrés Muñoz) in a massive seven-player deal in 2020.

In his first two full seasons in Seattle, France established himself as an integral member of the lineup, posting a 127 OPS+ and receiving his first and only All-Star selection over that stretch. Unfortunately, 2023 saw some significant offensive regression and by 2024, he had been designated for assignment and sent to Cincinnati for a catching prospect that never made it past rookie ball in the Mariners' system.

After bouncing to the Twins and Blue Jays, France ended up back in San Diego earlier this year on a minor league deal. Despite his humble contract, he had the best year of his career, posting new personal bests for rWAR (4.5), home runs (21), slugging percentage (.502), and OPS+ (139). Now that he's back on the free market, it looks like he'll finally be rewarded for his years of perseverance.

Ty France is shaping up to be one of the most sought-after position player free agents this offseason

This won't be his first time as a free agent but it will be the first time he has any semblance of negotiating leverage in the process. Thanks to his resurgence last season, multiple teams have already expressed interest in bringing him aboard. As a 32-year-old first baseman, he won't be signing a nine-figure contract but he could still ink a lucrative agreement to finish out his career.

MLB Trade Rumors projects him to sign a two-year, $32 million contract with the Padres and Twins listed as likely candidates. If this is the case, he would be making roughly as much money in a single year as he has across his entire big-league career thus far.

In addition to his own personal success, his market value is being immensely helped by a lack of competition. This year's class of free agents is immensely skewed towards pitchers with the most alluring position players being Seiya Suzuki, Randy Arozarena, and NPB import Teruaki Sato. If it's a first baseman your team desires, France and Jake Bauers are arguably the only two players capable of actually making a difference.

Some might argue that it would've been great for him to have this success with the Mariners although in some ways, his departure from the team isn't entirely his fault. He has still accumulated more rWAR (8.3) for Seattle than any other organization and though he did slump in 2024, he was far from the only bat in the lineup to go cold that year.

Could the Mariners have given him more of a leash and worked with him to make the necessary adjustments to get back to the levels of productivity in 2021 and 2022? Perhaps so, but hindsight is 20/20. To the organization's credit, it took him another three years to get back on track and even he began to doubt his abilities.

For most fans, seeing him succeed elsewhere is enough. If it couldn't have been for Seattle, at least it was for an opponent the Mariners don't compete with directly for a playoff spot. That could change this winter depending on which team ultimately takes a chance on him once again and more importantly, whether he's able to replicate the otherwise fleeting success he had in 2026.

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