{"id":956324,"date":"2026-11-07T21:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T21:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/956324\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T21:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T21:00:07","slug":"multiple-teams-showing-interest-in-ty-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/956324\/","title":{"rendered":"“Multiple Teams” Showing Interest In Ty France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming off an unexpectedly productive season with the Padres, it isn\u2019t a surprise that Ty France is a hot commodity on the free agent market.\u00a0 \u201cMultiple teams are already expressing interest in the 32-year-old France,\u201d The Athletic\u2019s Will Sammon<\/a> writes, and \u201cthe first baseman could find a deal quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is fair to assume that France would be open to signing a contract in relatively short order.\u00a0 The lockout will begin once the collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, adding some urgency to the proceedings for many teams and free agents over the next 24 days.\u00a0 France didn\u2019t sign his last two contracts until February in each of the last two offseasons (joining the Padres in 2026 and the Twins in 2025), so while he is used to long waits, it\u2019s quite another matter to head into the uncertainty of a lockout without a contract already in hand.<\/p>\n

The Padres\u2019 minor league deal with France ended up being one of the best value signings of the 2026 season.\u00a0 France made San Diego\u2019s Opening Day roster and never looked back, hitting .295\/.363\/.502 with 21 homers over an even 500 plate appearances.\u00a0 France\u2019s 141 wRC+, 3.6 fWAR, 47.4% hard-hit ball rate, and 7.4% walk rate were all career highs, and he followed up his AL Gold Glove in 2025 with another excellent defensive performance (+15 Defensive Runs Saved, +7 Outs Above Average) at first base.<\/p>\n

While France made the most of his contact, he didn\u2019t make a lot of it, as his strikeout, chase, and whiff rates were all below the league average.\u00a0 Some good fortune also factored into France\u2019s numbers, as he had a .342 BABIP as well as a .327 xwOBA that was well below his .373 wOBA.\u00a0 These factors plus France\u2019s age and shakier numbers in the previous three seasons will limit his market to some extent \u2014 MLB Trade Rumors placed France 23rd on our list of the offseason\u2019s top 50 free agents<\/a>, and predicted the first baseman to land a two-year, $32MM contract.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s still a very nice step up from the non-guaranteed contracts France got in the last two winters, and if he replicates his 2026 performance, a $16MM average annual value will still be a bargain.\u00a0 For his part, France naturally feels he can keep hitting, as he felt a more simplified approach helped him find success at the plate.\u00a0 France also credits Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins for pointing out a small issue with France\u2019s hand placement that helped the first baseman start to figure things out late in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

Playing in a familiar environment probably also helped France, a Southern California native who began his MLB career with the Padres in 2019.\u00a0 France\u2019s wife was pregnant with twins last winter, which is why France was particularly keen on signing with the Padres to stay close to home.\u00a0 While re-signing with the Padres would be France\u2019s first choice<\/a>, he tells Sammon that he is \u201copen to hearing everybody out\u201d as he tests the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like I need to be in one place.\u00a0 We had the babies; we have a little more freedom now to be able to move around the country,\u201d France said.\u00a0 \u201cI love San Diego, and I really enjoyed my time there, but I also understand the business side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coming off an unexpectedly productive season with the Padres, it isn\u2019t a surprise that Ty France is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":956325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85,33161],"class_list":["post-956324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-ty-france"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=956324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/956325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}