Ty France hit free agency at the start of the offseason when the Reds outrighted him off their 40-man roster. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets that the former Mariner is open to catching opportunities as he fields interest from other teams. Feinsand adds that France has already received at least one guaranteed contract offer, though it’s not clear how many teams (if any) view him as a realistic option for work behind the plate.
France has never played catcher in an MLB or minor league game. He’s not wholly unfamiliar with the position though. As a member of the Padres early in his career, France took catching reps at the team’s alternate training site during the 2020 canceled minor league season. He was reportedly viewed as a potential emergency catcher in both San Diego and Seattle, though neither team ever got into a situation where they were compelled to use him.
At 30 years old with no in-game catching experience, France is probably no more than a third catcher or emergency option. It’d be a huge task for him to acclimate to the receiving and game-calling nuances for even semi-regular work at the position. Still, there’s little harm for France in expressing a willingness to entertain catching if a team offered him the opportunity.
France’s lack of defensive value is the biggest knock against him. While he has a bit of experience at both second and third base, he doesn’t have the quickness to play either position regularly. France played almost exclusively first base in 2024. He received poor defensive marks there as well. Defensive Runs Saved graded him seven runs below average, while Statcast estimated he was nine runs below par.
For a couple years, France offset that minimal defensive profile with a big performance at the plate. He combined for a robust .284/.354/.441 slash between the 2020 deadline deal that sent him to Seattle and the end of the ’22 season. His production dipped to a .250/.337/.366 line in 2023. The decline continued this year, as France got out to a .223/.312/.350 start before the Mariners designated him for assignment. A move to hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park didn’t spark his bat. France hit .251/.292/.391 in 52 games for the Reds.
FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each graded France’s 2024 performance below replacement level. That made it an obvious call for Cincinnati to decline to tender him an arbitration contract that likely would’ve topped $8MM. It wasn’t out of the question that France would be limited to minor league offers, but Feinsand’s report indicates there’s at least one team willing to give him an Opening Day job. That’d very likely be on a low base salary, potentially with incentives based on his games or plate appearances.
Sounds like a prime Cherington move for the Pirates.
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Seattle screwed up giving him 7 million for 2024
Hindsight is 20/20.
So he’s a poor defender who is willing to try playing the game’s most demanding defensive position?
It’s okay for a catcher to be slow and less than average hitter. Expected even
He was also seemingly not good at 1B either. It might be less of a long shot for him to try pitching.
Do you think being a good fielding first baseman is a requirement to be a good catcher?
Helps to be a good fielder, period. A catcher has to do more of it than any other player. And also to have done it professionally. Funny how many seem to think his bid to catch rates as better than the longest of long shots.
Maybe if Soto was willing to play positions other than OF, he would be signed by now. It seems to be all the rage!
Yeah, mow, the poor guy might have to settle for 600M when he could have gotten 700M if only he could play another position. And btw, how does a career poor defender all of a sudden become a borderline gold glover? Oh wait, it was his walk year, so he actually tried harder. Yeah, that’s not gonna last…
I agree. His weak bat might play better at C but he can’t even play the lowest spot on the defensive spectrum. It takes twice as long for catcher prospects to be ready defensively and to manage a staff.. pretty big reach IMO for France to switch positions this late. He has a catchers body though.
He’s a nice guy but I don’t think he’s a major leaguer at this point, no matter what position he plays.
Well come back to the padres San Diego kid
Tony Gwynn once proclaimed Ty France was the best student he ever had with the most promise, talent,etc.at San Diego State.
Last off season he started training at Driveline (JP Crawford did the year before and he had the best season of his career), but it seems he was always looking to hit a HR and pull the ball. That isn’t what made him an All-Star, when he hit the ball to all fields. He actually became a really good defensive 1B in Seattle, good arm, and more athletic than he looks. I wonder if he get the right coaching he could become a solid #2 catcher.
When I watched his good and bad parts what happened is during 2023-24 he would only hit singles and walk, it felt like a miracle if he hit an extra base hit
And since he is the slowest person I’ve seen since Edgar “slow as molasses” Martinez he could never hit an infield single
Sounds like someone the A’s could overpay to convince and play in Sacramento and appease other owners they are spending revenue sharing funds
If Brandon Belt couldn’t get a job, Any guaranteed MLB deal is an overpay for him.
Brandon Belt is much older than France. Brandon Belt wanted more money than he was offered.
Jealous much he accomplished more than most just by getting to the show for 1 day quit hating on people sheesh
Brandon Belt didn’t want to play.
I’m pretty certain that’s the guaranteed offer he has. That’s why he’s still on the market
I hear he has also offered to be a left handed reliever!
I think a year in the KBO or NPB wouldn’t hurt Ty considering his numbers have gone down at the MLB level…
I think it’s more likely he needs to spend the rest of his career in those leagues but I do think he might find some success there.
I’d like to announce that I can be a bat boy in 2025.
Bat person. Come on, dude, get with the times!
Perhaps a more relevant question would be is he open to bagging groceries?
Maybe tea bagging is more like it…
It seems like the offense for everyone has dropped off the past year or two. What has caused the decline? Better pitching? The time limit between pitches and less time the batter gets to prepare? The quest for homers?
I’m curious what they attribute it to.
It may be the new baseball that came out a couple years ago. The newer official ball is deader than the previous “juiced” ball.
I think Ty is cooked
Pretty sure the guaranteed offer he has is from the A’s, which is why he’s still on the market. Nobody should or would want to play half their games in a minor league park for a SH/T owner
Ty France was with the Padres?
Uh, yeah. He was drafted by the Padres. When he came up to bat at Dodger Stadium the organist would sometimes play “La Vie en Rose.”
Completely forgot he was drafted by the Padres. I looked up that trade when SD traded him to Seattle. Not a single player involved is playing with the Mariners or Padres. All play for different teams or like France are free agents.
andres munoz plays for the mariners still
I only clicked on the players that had links to their Wikipedia. Not sure if Andres Munoz had one or not.
France needs to worry about making contact with the Baseball, not learning to play a tougher position than the one he’s already bad at…
he cant just learn one of the hardest positions in baseball just like that
since his bat is below average, he would have to be at least a solid to above average catcher. at least
Out of curiosity I looked at his college bio and Perfect Game. He has NEVER played the position
It would be cool to see him with the rays the need a right handed catcher and they could maybe get him back on teach