SEATTLE -- With the Mariners’ offense in a dry spell and the club now tied atop the AL West standings after losing a 10-game lead, shakeups were bound to come. The first landed on Sunday afternoon, when first baseman Ty France was placed on outright waivers, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was first to report the move. The Mariners have not confirmed the move.

France, who’s slashing .233/.312/.350 with eight home runs, will remain on Seattle’s 40-man roster. While on waivers, the other 29 MLB teams will have a chance to claim him.

If France clears waivers, the Mariners can release him, keep him on their roster or outright send him to the Minor Leagues. Though due to his service time, France can reject the outright assignment and instead choose to become a free agent.

France, the Padres’ 34th-round pick (No. 1,017 overall) in the 2015 MLB Draft, came to the Mariners in 2020 -- his second season in the Majors -- in a seven-player trade that also brought Andrés Muñoz, Luis Torrens and Taylor Trammell to Seattle in exchange for Austin Adams, Austin Nola and Dan Altavilla.

In his first two and a half seasons with the Mariners, France hit .284 with 40 home runs in 315 games, culminating with a 2022 season that saw him hit .308 with an .846 OPS in the first half and make his first career All-Star Game.

In the past two seasons, though, France has struggled, striking out an even 200 times in 246 games.

The move, and Seattle trading Mike Baumann to the Giants for cash considerations, presumably opens a spot for Tyler Locklear -- ranked as the Mariners’ No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline -- to start at first base, at least for the time being.

Locklear, Seattle’s second-round pick (No. 58 overall) in the 2022 Draft, made his MLB debut on June 9 and hit .200 with two home runs in 11 games while France was on the IL with a right heel fracture.