Ty France was a long shot to make the San Diego Padres roster, but the first baseman had his contract selected today.
Final roster moves are slowly leaking out from teams around the league, and the San Diego Padres contributed with the news that infielder Ty France will be making the roster, according to a report from Mark Polishuk of MLBTradeRumors.com via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. France will need to have his contract selected before Opening Day, of course, but the Padres do have the necessary open space to add him.
The money terms are minimal, with France about to make $1.35 million, which is fairly standard for players on this sort of deal. More significantly, it also completes the full-circle journey of France, as Polishuk notes, given that he was originally drafted in the 34th round by the Padres back in 2015 before he made his debut with the club in 2019.
France returns to San Diego as the reigning Gold Glove award winner at first base, and he comes in as what Polishuk described a “pretty solid regular” during his time with the Seattle Mariners. His offense has dipped, however, with a slash line of .245/.312/.363 in just over 1,000 plate appearances with the Mariners, the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays.
But France made the roster with his bat, and it didn’t hurt that newly signed infielder Sun-Mung Song hurt his oblique muscle and will almost certainly start the season on the 10-day injured list with the Padres babying him due to that injury. Song just started swinging the bat again this past week, and given the delicate nature of this injury it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he sat out most or all of April.
France will have to continue to hit to get more plate appearances, as he’s joining a very crowded positional group at first. Gavin Sheets is the projected starter at first, although he will probably be platooned against lefties, and Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos are also in the mix to get some of those at-bats against lefties.
In addition, the Padres also have DH at-bats available to distribute to that group, and no one knows what will happen when Song eventually returns.
One thing that remains unknown about this add, according to Polishuk, is whether France actually triggered his first opt-out clause this weekend or the Padres simply decided to add him to simplify some other roster decisions. Either way, it’s a tribute to France’s determination given the odds he was facing at the beginning of camp.