The Diamondbacks, Mets, Padres, and Yankees are among the teams who have shown interest in Ty France, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The free agent first baseman won the AL Gold Glove Award last season, though he hit only .257/.320/.360 with seven homers over 490 plate appearances with the Twins and Blue Jays.
After batting .285/.355/.443 over 1418 PA during the 2020-22 seasons, France went from a 129 wRC+ over those three years to a 106 wRC+ in 2023, and a 93 wRC+ over the last two seasons. France has still been making contact at an above-average rate, but his hard-contact rates are middling at best and he has never taken many walks. Defensively, France’s glovework had cratered in the view of public metrics before he rebounded out of nowhere to post +10 Outs Above Average and +9 Defensive Runs Saved over 976 2/3 innings at first base in 2025, resulting in his first Gold Glove.
France is a right-handed hitter without a platoon split, as his numbers against right-handed and left-handed pitching are basically identical over his career. Teams in the market for a right-handed hitting first base complement might prefer more of a clear-cut righty masher, though France’s newfound defensive capability is a bonus.
The Yankees have Ben Rice (a lefty bat) lined up as the starting first baseman and Giancarlo Stanton is locked into the DH role. Some more at-bats could be available on the days when Rice is playing catcher, but France would be used in a strict part-time capacity if he went to the Bronx. The same would be true in Queens, as the Mets plan to use Jorge Polanco as the starting first baseman, plus Mark Vientos and Brett Baty will be either at DH, or in the field when Polanco or any of the other Mets veterans are getting a DH day. Having an experienced first baseman like France would be helpful for the Mets, considering that Polanco has played only one MLB game at first base.
The left-handed hitting Pavin Smith will get the bulk of Arizona’s first base work, but between a platoon first base role and an open DH spot, France would have more opportunity for playing time with the Diamondbacks. Such names as Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana have also been linked to the D’Backs this winter as part of the team’s ongoing search for first base help.
Signing with the Padres would be a homecoming moment for France, a SoCal product who played college ball at San Diego State. France began his pro career as a 34th-round pick for the Padres in the 2015 draft, and he spent parts of his first two MLB seasons with the Friars before he was dealt to the Mariners as part of a seven-player trade at the 2020 deadline.
Returning to San Diego at age 31 would line France up as a right-handed complement within a surplus of left-handed bats vying for time on the right side of the Padres’ infield. Jake Cronenworth, Sung Mun Song, Will Wagner, and Gavin Sheets are all lefty swingers, and the Padres have no set DH. Sheets is projected to be the starting first baseman with Cronenworth perhaps being the favorite for DH duty and Song bouncing around to multiple positions, but there’s plenty in flux as the Padres figure things out. Song is getting his first taste of Major League action after nine seasons in the KBO League, and an oblique injury could delay the start of his inaugural MLB campaign.
Why
Back up 1b righty bench bat
Why?
Baseballs
Yes, but why?
Exactly, .681 OPS and 88 OPS+. I could see a small market team having interest to fill their roster but not a NY team.
Ricky Jordan
Good bench piece for a contender.
Teams don’t generally carry backup first baseman that can’t hit.
Teams also generally don’t sign First Basemen who have never played the position to be the starter, but there ya go….
To be fair, the jays carried him down the stretch
So, does this mean he will be signed by the D-Backs in about two hours?
Preller usually signs one old guy to fill a hole. France isn’t old enough. Maybe Carlos Santana
If he had an OPS over .750 vs lefties and could play 3B too he might be a good fit for the Yanks. However, he sucks vs everyone and hasn’t played 3B since 2021.
He was never 3B. Literally cannot play the position
Betcha he “literally could”, maybe just not to your standards
Also has 53 games at 3B in his career and was one in the minors. But sure. He was never one
I love when people are so confident yet so wrong
its sarcasm bruh
Now you say that
I think we’re fine at 3rd. Rosario and Jazz and Waldo can all play 3rd. I get why Cashman is more interested in securing a legit 1b backup. Leaving Bellinger in the OF makes us stronger defensively.
France makes sense for the Padres as a 1B/DH option. Makes sense for the Giants as a replacement for Wilmer Flores
Why? 1B/DH options are suppose to be bat first.
If there is any news of interest from padres then it’s probably not going to happen. Signings/trades happen only if no one heard about it.
It would be a mistake for the Mets to trade Baty and rely on Ty…and it would waste a roster spot to have all 3 of Baty, Vientos, and France.
Maybe trade Vientos?
Cronenworth as the DH? Is he that bad in the field? I thought earlier on in his career he was a plus 2B defensively and passable at SS
He’s declined a bit on defense.
Mark P. is the first writer I’ve read suggesting that Cronenworth fill role of DH. This goes against all logic as Jake is very good defensively at 2b, and AJ Preller and Stammen publicly stated this weekend that he would anchor 2b all season as he did last year. Stammen identified Song as playing a utility role, relieving 3b at times to give rest/DH days for Machado, or 2B when Cronenworth slides over to SS to give Bogaerts a rest/DH day.
“with Cronenworth perhaps being the favorite for DH duty”
This is a lie. Simply not correct in the slightest. Crone is the starting 2B, and beyond that is the padres best fielding option at first and second, possibly SS too. Any day cronenworth is DH is strictly gonna be too rest him.
Yeah, there is no way Cronenworth doesn’t start 100+ games at 2b with the roster as its constructed. Further more there is no way in hell he would be jestoned to DH with Sheets starting at 1b.
If Sung Mun Song is healthy and does well in Spring Training, I can see him full time at second with Cronenworth at first.
I see something similar but I’d see a healthy SMS at 2nd, cheap France (glove first at 1b) sheets DH and Crone traded for pitching.
McCoy backup 2b and Wagner backup 1b.
I’d prefer Hoskins / Goldy as a RH 1b w pop and cheap but whomever- crone gets packaged maybe w a prospect for a mid to backend rotation with a year left.
it’s complete bs yes. See my comment above about it.
If you’re unfamiliar with or haven’t seen his .399/.477/.770 slash over 76 games with AAA El Paso in 2019 in a while, it’s worth looking up.
France had 27 HR and 27 doubles and 118 total base hits in 296 ABs before his late summer promotion to San Diego.
Ridiculous.
The out of nowhere Gold Glove seasons from players that have been average to below average defenders their entire career tells me that the formulas being used for defensive metrics just aren’t quite right.
It’s mostly a sample size issue. A player may only make 150 plays over the course of a season. If he makes the best 10 plays of his life in one season, it would drastically impact those numbers. Doesn’t mean he didn’t have a great season defensively, but it also doesn’t mean you can project anything from that going forward.
I think there’s way too much volatility year-to-year in all defensive ratings, since they’re entirely subjective (as I understand, they are primarily hand-graded?) and a huge factor in WAR as well. And no one can explain to me how a right fielder who averages 1.5 chances per game has the same WAR boost as a `1B who touches the ball 9-`10 times.
Exactly. Some of the ratings/ranking just don’t pass the eye test.
Even as a big Ty France fan from his time with the M’s I would say you’re absolutely right.
This guys crushes us. Please don’t go to an AL West rivals.
I’d rather have Goldy back. MVP caliber experience teaching and spelling Rice and a guy id trust more be thrust into a starting role should we need to.
But yeah either way, Yanks need a legit 1b backup.
Would the Yankees not be better off using Bellinger at 1B on Rice’s off days and have a real CF on the roster? Bellinger is more valuable as an OF than 1B, but if it’s just to spell Rice once in a while, isn’t it better to have a glove first CF than a glove first 1B?
Obviously in great demand since he’s lasted this long in free agency. Boras just playing the waiting game!
He makes a lot of contact but there’s no power. Weird profile for a 1B only defender. If he was a utility player who could play a few positions, it’s not a bad PH option when you need contact or an occasional bat in the starting lineup at the bottom of the order. You could do worse than a guy with a .320 OBP hitting 9. But it’s a fairly limited role to be able to roster a guy with his defensive limitations. I guess if you have power everywhere else on the roster, you could play him regularly at 1B. Or if your other 12 guys can move around and cover the diamond, he could strictly be a bench bat and occasionally spell 1B.
France just isn’t a player NYY NEEDS. Had they pulled the trigger on Suarez before the Reds did it’d have been a “luxury platoon” at 3rd base to roll in a right handed bat alongside Mcmahon. Too late. Cashman can do the France dance now if he wants to placate Yanks fans still trying to figure out what offseason moves pushed the needle. Oldy Goldy is still a viable 1b platooner unless the Red Sox nab him first. Get it done already!
Do you get the feeling that Goldschmidt may be deciding between returning to the Yankees or returning to Arizona for his last season or two?
I was under that impression as well
Goldy barely hit the ball out of the infield in the second half of the season. Surprised he is still looking for a landing spot.
Yeah, but as I stated regardless of the fact that Boston signed Wilson Contreras to play 1st base Goldy could still get scooped up by the Sawx. Throwing a wrench in any NYY plans to bring him back is an aspect of The Rivalry that’s very real. If memory serves me right, Goldy raked Red Sawx pitching over the coals late last season!
I don’t care who Yankees get as a RH 1B just don’t bring back Goldy. Andujar looking better and better I hate to admit that.
Sorry if I’ve read too far into your post, but are you thinking Andujar would be a more valuable pickup than Goldy?
Can’t wait for Stearns to give him 3 years 60 million to play left field or be the back up catcher. Fits with damn near every other move that joker has made.
From above: “France has still been making contact at an above-average rate.”
I think the actual phrasing should be, “The ball has still been making contact with France at an above-average rate.”
It’s 10 days since the interest
So why no signing
It’s because interest is BS