The 1,017th Pick Reaches 100

The 34th Round

His agent projected rounds 3 through 7. The 2015 draft kept going, and Tyler Lawrence France, playing at San Diego State under Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, started preparing to return for his senior year. The Padres finally called his name with the 1,017th overall pick, in the 34th round, and he signed for a $100,000 bonus.

France had posted a .337 career average for the Aztecs. Years later, as a Padres rookie, he recalled how Gwynn would put on Beats headphones at the front of the team bus and dance to old-school hip-hop before games — loosening the players up, showing the fun in him. France was a criminal justice major from Downey, California, a right-handed hitter who grew up an Angels fan because his aunt could get tickets, while most of the family preferred the Dodgers. He listed rowing, fishing, and football among his interests, with possible career plans in pro baseball or law enforcement.

Seattle

He debuted with San Diego in April 2019, and the following season he was sitting in a fantasy football draft in Colorado when manager Jayce Tingler interrupted the sixth round to tell him GM A.J. Preller wanted to talk. The trade to Seattle had gone through.

France stayed a Mariner for five years. He was the club's MVP in 2021 and made the All-Star team the following season. Then came Cincinnati in 2024, Minnesota and Toronto in 2025, and San Diego again in 2026 — four clubs across three seasons. In 950 major-league games he has hit .265 with a .337 on-base percentage, 877 hits, 422 RBI, and 100 home runs. The last of those came on August 29.

First Base

He reached the number at 32, playing first base for the Padres. He won an AL Gold Glove at the position in 2025. Through 110 games this season, he has 19 home runs and 101 hits.

Reporting: FOX Sports, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego State Aztecs, Wikipedia. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.