FORT MYERS, Fla. >> Ty France isn’t going to use a fracture in his right heel as an excuse for the subpar season he had last year at the plate. But, well, it certainly didn’t help.

“When you don’t have a foot, it’s hard to do things,” he said.

France, whose deal with the Twins was made official Saturday after he agreed to a one-year, $1 million non-guaranteed contract earlier in the week, is looking to bounce back after a season disrupted by the foot injury — and the Twins plan on giving him plenty of opportunities.

Though the the first baseman did play through the fracture, coming back after a minimum stay on the injured list, it wasn’t until the end of the season that his right foot started to feel fine again, he said.

Playing through it caused bad habits, he added. For example, he wasn’t using his backside properly during his swing and was compensating because he was “babying” his sore foot.

It wasn’t just that, though. France, 30, hit .251 with a .683 OPS last season but was an all-star in 2022, and had the best season of his career in 2021 — .291 batting average, 18 homers and 73 RBIs in 152 games for Seattle.

“There was a lot that went into it,” France said of 2024. “Tried a different style of training that offseason, trying to revamp my swing. It didn’t work out the way I thought things would. This offseason, I spent a lot of time just getting back to the basics of things.”

The change before last year, he said, came after his numbers dipped in 2023. He said he “panicked a little bit,” and got lost. He’d be in the box, worrying about his hip coil and separation instead of just competing.

This offseason, he worked in Southern California with former Twins infielder Denny Hocking on simplifying things. The goal was to get back to his roots so he could just go out and play baseball “instead of worrying about all that mechanical stuff.”

France said he was leading the direction, letting Hocking know what it looks like when he was at his best and going from there. He also tailored his offseason programming to be more strength-based and worked to enjoy playing baseball once again.

“This is a game; you’ve got to have fun,” France and. “And the last year or two hasn’t been fun baseball for me, personally, so (it’s) kind of re-finding that joy in the game and understanding we play a game for a living. Not everyone gets to do this, especially at this level.”

Though the Twins signed France to a non-guaranteed deal, it seems he will figure heavily in their plans at first base. Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien could factor in, as well.

“He’s going to play a lot,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s really the best way of saying it. The kind of player that he is, yeah, this isn’t a platoon situation. I think he’s going to play.”

Baldelli said France came highly recommended from bench coach Jayce Tingler, who managed him in 2020 while both were with the San Diego Padres. Hearing from someone he trusted — Tingler — who had “nothing but good things,” to say about France, told Baldelli much of what he needed to know.

“Going into a season, you would like to have some understanding of who’s going to play first base for you,” Baldelli said. “I think Ty’s a good guy to feel that way about. I just like the way he handles his business.”

President of baseball operations Derek Falvey said France is someone who had been on the Twins’ radar for years, and had been included in a couple of conversations they had about trades in the past.

On France’s end, he identified the Twins early in the offseason as a good fit after the departure of Gold Glove Award winner Carlos Santana.

And while his contract isn’t guaranteed, France is out to show the Twins that he’s back to being himself.

“I don’t want to complicate the game. I’m not going to go out here and try to be something I’m not,” he said. “They’ve told me, ‘Go out here, be yourself and things should work out.’ ”