The Pittsburgh Pirates could make a splash by signing one of the better position players available on the free agent market this offseason.

While projecting the contracts and landing spots for each of the top 25 free agents, Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly predicted that the Pirates will ultimately bring in Ty France on a two-year, $36 million deal.

"The Pirates have more than $20 million coming off the books from 2026, just between Brandon Lowe (who has a qualifying offer to decide on) and Marcell Ozuna," Kelly wrote. "A portion of that could be reallocated to France, in hopes that he can help them build on their first winning season since 2018."

France's Career Year in 2026

France had once been a staple of the Seattle Mariners' lineup, posting a combined 7.2 bWAR, 38 home runs and 156 RBIs with a .283/.353/.440 slash line between the 2021 and 2022 campaigns while earning an All-Star nod in the latter of those two years.

He took a rather significant step back from 2023 to 2025, though, logging 1.3 bWAR with a .686 OPS over 436 games between the Mariners (2023-2024), Cincinnati Reds (2024), Minnesota Twins (2025) and Toronto Blue Jays (2025).

As a result, France had to settle for a minor league deal that included an invite to major league spring training with the San Diego Padres last offseason.

It marked a homecoming for France, who grew up in Southern California before attending San Diego State University and being drafted by the Padres in the 34th round of the 2015 MLB Draft.

France also made his big league debut for San Diego in 2019 and was later dealt to the Mariners during the 2020 campaign.

After making the Padres' Opening Day roster, France never looked back. The 32-year-old played in 133 games for the club and batted .295/.363/.502 with a career-high 21 home runs and 4.5 bWAR as San Diego made it to the playoffs for the third season in a row.

France, who won the American League Gold Glove at first base in 2025, was a finalist at the position in the National League this year as well, though he ended up losing out to Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves.

Would Signing France Make Sense for Pittsburgh?

As a team, the Pirates tied for the eighth-worst wRC+ (92) in the league vs. left-handed pitching this past season, and France could help solve some of those issues as a right-handed hitter who recorded an .853 OPS against southpaws in 2026.

Pittsburgh also struggled defensively at first base, posting -5 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and -4 Outs Above Average (OAA). Given his prowess in the field as a former Gold Glover winner and finalist for the award at the position this year with 15 DRS and seven OAA, France is a rather strong fit for the club in that regard.

His 2026 season, from an offensive perspective, was an outlier simply when looking at his production from 2023 to 2025. It's not like there wasn't any prior precedent for France to have a big year at the plate, though, considering his 127 OPS+ from 2020 to 2022 and 114 wRC+ over the course of his career.

For a team that isn't necessarily eager to spend in free agency, however, handing France a multi-year contract worth somewhere around $16 million, as Kelly projected, just isn't a smart allocation of resources.

Pittsburgh already has a bevy of options at first base, with Spencer Horwitz and Ryan O'Hearn chief among them. The likes of Jacob Gonzalez, Rafael Flores Jr., Jared Triolo and even Esmerlyn Valdez are all capable of playing the position as well.

France is certainly a quality player, but the Pirates have several other more pressing needs to the point that paying him wouldn't make much sense.