\u201cYeah, I was disappointed,\u201d Flores said. \u201cI definitely feel like I could help somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flores, 34, has come to embody how the Statcast-driven evolution of his sport is pushing out accomplished players. In March, he signed with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League. After those two magical days in San Francisco, he had plummeted back to earth. He completed what might have been his final major-league campaign with 16 home runs, 71 RBIs and a .686 OPS that helps explain why he is here, competing in a foreign environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know baseball has changed a lot. A lot of looking for people to hit the ball hard. And a lot of metrics and all that stuff,\u201d said Flores, who compiled 169 home runs across parts of 13 big-league seasons. \u201cA lot of good players that \u2026 can play baseball, but they don\u2019t have the exit velo or the slugging. It doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t play in the big leagues. It just means that, you know, there\u2019s just a lot of players.\u201d<\/p>\n
“I still have a lot to give\u2026staying ready.”<\/p>\n
13-year MLB veteran Wilmer Flores joined #MLBNHotStove<\/a> to discuss his offseason training, the free agency process and more! pic.twitter.com\/sg5Bj2PP33<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Last year, Flores maintained his reputation for big hits, delivering a .963 OPS in FanGraphs\u2019 definition of high-leverage situations. He also ranked near the bottom of the majors in such categories as average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and expected slugging percentage. He spent most of his time as a designated hitter and logged one of the game\u2019s slowest average sprint speeds. He is seven years younger than Justin Turner<\/a>, a former New York Mets teammate and another Toros newcomer.<\/p>\n Among big leaguers who took at least 200 swings, Turner recorded the 12th-slowest average bat speed. Flores finished with the sixth-slowest.<\/p>\n Turner describes the player who was dead-last in those rankings as a \u201cunicorn.\u201d But even Luis Arraez, with his limited power and speed, settled in February for a modest one-year contract \u2014 this after the Toros reached out to the three-time batting champion.<\/p>\n That was when Arraez inadvertently eliminated one of Flores\u2019 few potential options.<\/p>\n \u201cI went back and forth with the Giants asking if they wanted a reunion, but they said they were looking for a second baseman before they signed Arraez,\u201d Flores said. \u201cIf they didn\u2019t sign Arraez, they said maybe I had a chance to come back. But they signed Arraez, and it never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Flores, in turn, has settled for regular reminders of a past life. When big-league spring training was almost over, he instructed his agent to contact the Toros, who play their home games just 20 miles from Petco Park. Like Turner, Flores now plays with or against former teammates \u2014 Robinson Can\u00f3, J.D. Davis and Phillip Evans, to name a few. Like Turner, Flores commutes to Mexico from a temporary stateside residence.<\/p>\n \u201cSan Diego,\u201d Flores said, \u201cis my favorite city.\u201d<\/p>\n On either side of the border, Flores often hears from members of multiple fan bases that continue to cherish him. It was more than a decade ago that he cried at Citi Field<\/a> after learning the Mets had agreed to trade him to the Milwaukee Brewers. Then, to widespread delight, New York backed out of the deal.<\/p>\n Flores, already a well-liked teammate, went on to establish himself as the franchise\u2019s leader in walk-off RBIs. In 2020, he brought his reputation as a timely hitter and steady professional to the Giants. In San Francisco, as in New York, the theme song from \u201cFriends\u201d became synonymous with a Venezuela native who honed his English by watching the popular sitcom<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Mexico, Flores no longer requests the same music.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that was my walk-up song, they\u2019d say I\u2019m crazy,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n Roberto Kelly played 14 seasons in the majors and won three World Series as a coach for the Giants. Early last decade, he was coaching in the Venezuelan Winter League when he encountered a teenager with exceptional contact skills and unremarkable athleticism.<\/p>\n \n Flores is enjoying his time in Tijuana, but it\u2019s clear he had hoped for something different. (Courtesy of Tijuana Toros)<\/p>\n All these years later, Kelly is managing a much older version of the same player.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game is changing so much,\u201d the Toros\u2019 first-year manager said. \u201cThey\u2019re looking for younger guys now. \u2026 Wilmer, he could still be playing up there, but unfortunately, that\u2019s the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that he didn\u2019t have a job \u2026 it\u2019s crazy,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n Is Flores playing to prove he deserves another opportunity at the highest level?<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know where this takes me, honestly. I\u2019m here today, I\u2019m still playing baseball. But I don\u2019t really know, honestly. If I go back, it\u2019d be great, because that\u2019s where you want to play.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday night, while the Giants and their struggling offense scored an upset of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Turner supplied a first-inning homer for the first-place Toros. Flores went hitless, walked and scored a run.<\/p>\n It had been 361 days since he smashed three home runs during the performance of his career.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, it was a great game,\u201d Flores said. \u201cI\u2019m able to put the barrel on the ball most of the time. Not as hard as people want, but yeah, it was a good game.\u201d<\/p>\n As he sat in the dugout, Flores was not far from the country where he became a fan favorite on two coasts.<\/p>\n \u201cI told my mom the other day, \u2018I just woke up from a dream. I was playing in the big leagues,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of times, you just go through the motions and you don\u2019t appreciate what you have. But I\u2019m playing baseball, doing what I like, and we\u2019ll see where we go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wilmer-flores-2-scaled.jpg\")
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