The twins have recently signed France Earlier today to a major league deal official and manager Rocco Baldelli It is clear to journalists (including The Star’s Bobby Nightclub) that their new member has taken over the club’s regular first baseman.
“He will fight a lot.” Baldelli said, as Nightengale conveyed. “It’s really the best way to talk. He’s the kind of batsman, it’s not a roster. I think he’ll play.”
The twins spent most of the offseason hoping to find a stable presence after first base Carlos Santana The guardians of the competitors who set out for free agents, now it seems they will turn to France. Even if France is in a bankruptcy season in 2024, it is not difficult to understand why they decided to bet. France broke out in 2020 and was traded for mid-season after a bland rookie season at Padres in 2019. He went on to play a strong game in Seattle for three years, where he scored .285/.355/.443 (129 WRC+). He occasionally met cameos in second and third bases, but mostly regular first basemen at the club, even earning an All-Star nod at that position in 2022.
Unfortunately, France began to struggle. Although he played 158 games for the Mariners in 2023, his work is just pedestrian as he hits .250/.337/.366 at 105 WRC+. 5% better than the league average, which is not bad, but also below expectations for everyday players in the Bat-first position of competing clubs. It seems like France’s disappointing 2023 in early last year might just be in one match with Pan as he entered 2024, hitting a strong .251/.329/ in the first 61 games of the season . 403 (117 WRC+). Unfortunately, France suffered a fractured heel in mid-June last year, leaving him for two weeks and he returned to look like a different player as he only hit .225/.285/.336 (73 wrc+), the rest of him. The way last season.
It is no surprise to hear France enter the season with a .309 BABIP career, but only has .255 Babip after he was injured, which has been hampered by the lingering effects of injury late in the season. France himself admits that his injured heel may have played in the struggle last year, but does not want to blame him for his injury entirely.
“It’s hard to do things when you don’t have feet.” France says, as the nightclub conveys. “I don’t want to blame all the blame on this. There are a lot of them. I tried a different way of training that tried to revamp my swing. It didn’t solve it as I thought. In the offseason, I spent a lot of time back on things. I was a good batsman when I simplified my batting and went back to myself.”
With France seemingly being shot to prove its health and effectiveness in 2025, this leaves the twins’ plan behind Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda There is a problem. The two entered the 26-27 seasons respectively, with great success and famous struggles in the Grand Slams each past season. The duo seems likely to handle the twins’ first base without an external addition in 2025, but now France is in a foldable state among the nominal starters in the lineup, and it’s unclear whether Miranda or Julian will have a consistent path time. Both have experience elsewhere in the infield (Miranda is primarily at third base and Julien is at second base), but are suspicious defenders in these locations and may be more suitable for first base/DH roles.
Of course, even without a clear path to playing hours on opening day, it’s easy to imagine that this year’s participants have received significant representation. Byron Buxton,,,,, Carlos Correaand Reus Lewis On trips with twins and injured lists, both Correa or Buxton’s trips can open game time in infield to enable Miranda or Julien to take advantage of the time of injury. Determined batsman’s deal Willi Castro Can change Minnesota’s playing time, France himself or someone like the highest prospects are not doing well Brooks Lee.
