Mariners place Ty France on outright waivers

Mariners place Ty France on outright waivers

The Seattle Mariners have placed first baseman Ty France on outright waivers, Seattle Times reporter Ryan Divish was the first to report Sunday evening.

Should he go unclaimed after 48 hours, he’s still with the team and can be sent to the minors. Though he can also refuse any assignment since he’s accumulated more than three years of service time.

According to ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, Tyler Locklear , the team’s No. 6 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, will now be getting full-time reps in-place of France. The 2022 second-round pick received a cup of coffee in the majors after France went down with a heel injury in June, slashing .200/.250/.433 in 11 games with two home runs and three RBIs.

In Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma, Locklear’s combined to slash .280/.389/.498 (.887 OPS) with 19 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in 72 games (335 plate appearances), including a .829 OPS and 107 wRC+ in 31 Triple-A games this season.

France, on the other hand, has struggled each of the last two seasons after a very encouraging first four MLB seasons (2019-22) at the plate.

In 2024, he’s sporting a .662 OPS– a 94 OPS+ and a 96 wRC+–across 88 games (340 PAs), clubbing eight home runs with 31 RBIs and a career-high 24.4 strikeout rate. In 2023, he flashed a mediocre 100 wRC+ (.703 OPS) after posting a 122 OPS+ over his first four combined with San Diego and Seattle.

He hasn’t been able to get on-base and isn’t squaring pitches up at an above-average rate. France is also whiffing on 23.8 percent of his pitches with his zone contact percentage at 83.1 percent, both the worst marks since 2020, according to Baseball Savant.

Any team that claims France, 30, must put him on their 40-man roster; the waiver priority is determined based on reverse winning percentage, thus a worse team has first dibs. It remains to be seen if any team will claim France, as Seattle will now go from one Ty to another at 1B.

Baseball works in mysterious ways. One day, you can be the best hitter on the planet; one another, you can look ridiculous. Let’s hope France can figure it out and get back on-track sooner rather than later before it’s too late.

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