Former Seattle Mariners All-Star Returns to PNW For 1st Time Since Being Traded

SEATTLE — For the first time since being traded last season, former Seattle Mariners All-Star first baseman Ty France will be playing baseball in the Pacific Northwest.

The current Minnesota Twins infielder will play his first game at T-Mobile Park since being traded by the Mariners to the Cincinnati Reds on July 29, 2024. The M's and Twins will play at 7:10 p.m. PT on Friday.

"It's been good," France said before the game Friday. "It's always nice coming back to a place you're familiar with. Spent parts of five seasons here, so this was home for a long time. First time I've even been in the visiting locker room. Definitely a lot of different emotions. But excited to be back, excited to play in front of these fans again and this time as an opponent."

France played the better part of five seasons for Seattle from 2020-24. The Mariners acquired him in a trade with the San Diego Padres on Aug. 31, 2020. The Mariners also got All-Star closer Andres Munoz in the trade.

"Ty has a lot of previous relationships with a lot of guys in the clubhouse," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a pregame interview Friday. "I know Ty was a very popular player here and did a lot of great things. That's one of the nice things about baseball. Sometimes you lose a member of the family but you get a chance to see them elsewhere. I know for a lot of guys, it'll be great to see Ty and it's a homecoming of sorts for him."

France scored 267 runs and hit 110 doubles, three triples and 60 home runs with 258 RBIs in 561 games with the Mariners. He had a slash line of .266/.343/.408 with a .751 OPS while in the Pacific Northwest. He made the All-Star game in 2022 — the same season Seattle snapped its 21-year playoff drought.

Ty France - Seattle Mariners (6)
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— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) May 26, 2024

The Mariners will honor France with a tribute video to his half-decade stint with the team at the end of the first inning.

"It means a lot," France said. "From day one when I stepped into that locker room over there, they've always done things right. They're first-class about everything. Very grateful for my time here. It was, like I said, parts of five seasons. Bulk of my career so far has been in one uniform. Ran into a lot of good people over there. ... Excited to watch the video. I don't know how I'm gonna react or how it's gonna feel, but very grateful for it."

France chatted with former coaches and teammates before the game. Two former teammates he talked to was catcher Cal Raleigh and starting pitcher Bryan Woo, who will be behind and in front of him when he takes his first at-bat Friday.

"The first at-bat is definitely going to be weird," France said. "Once I get that emotion out of the way and kind of just take a deep breath and take it all in, it's just go out there and compete. Part of it might feel like a spring training backfield game for a minute with those two out there. But at the end of the day, I'm here to do one job and that's go out and compete."

Once the tributes and emotions settle, it will be back to business as usual for both teams. France has been an effective player for Minnesota this season. He's slashed .254/.319/.358 with a .677 OPS with four home runs and 30 RBIs in 53 games.

Both Seattle and Minnesota are in the thick of the America League playoff race. And this series could play a crucial role in potential tiebreakers at the end of the year.

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