Ty France era all but over as Mariners place him on waivers

Ty France was placed on outright waivers on Sunday by the Seattle Mariners, but can still play until or unless he’s claimed.

Sunday was an extremely interesting one for the Seattle Mariners and their fanbase. The ball club managed to salvage something from a disappointing series versus the Houston Astros, with a 6-4 win which puts them in a virtual tie at the top of the AL West.

In addition, Julio Rodríguez managed to avoid a serious injury after crashing into the wall, with X-rays coming back negative. Yes he might miss some playing time with an ankle sprain, but this is better than something more long-term.

On top of this, Ty France was placed on outright waivers shortly following Sunday’s Astros finale, in a move which was first reported by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. He will remain on the Mariners’ 40-man roster and can still play for the them while on waivers until or unless he’s claimed.

If France clears waivers, the Mariners would then be able to outright or release him, although he does have enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.  There’s also the possibility of the Mariners opting to retain him on their roster afterwards, but this seems extremely unlikely.

No coming back for Ty France

The reality is that the Mariners are looking to move on, with the hope of another ball club taking on the balance of the 30-year-old’s $6.775 deal for this season. They already have rookie and top prospect Tyler Locklear in place to take over at first base.

To see France’s time in Seattle all but come to an end is a shame, especially with him just two years removed from being selected to the 2022 All-Star Game. At that time the sky seemed like the limit, as he was second among all qualifying American League first basemen in batting average, third in OBP, tied for third in hits and RBI, as well as fourth in OPS.

Since then however, it’s all gone in the wrong direction for the Downey, California native. He struggled during last season, but the hope was that this was just an off-year and that he would rebound in 2024.

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The downward trend continues

There has been no such luck however, with France actually performing even worse. At the time of writing he’s projected to have a host of career worsts, including a .223 batting average, .350 slugging percentage, .662 OPS and 24.4 percent strikeout rate.

In truth, the writing has been on the wall for a while with the 2015 34th round draft pick. You can go back to this time last year when, as per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Mariners were apparently prepared to listen to offers for him prior to the trade deadline.

Acquired as part of a seven-player deal with the San Diego Padres at the 2020 trade deadline, it seemed at one point as if France was going to prove to be an absolute steal for the Mariners. Now though he’s on his way out, with his poor offensive form in many ways representing the lineup’s lack of overall production so far this year.

What are your favourite moments from France’s time in Seattle? Do you put more of the blame on him or the Mariners, for how his form has gotten worse during these past two seasons? Let us know in the comments section below.