San Francisco Giants Sign infielder Wilmer Flores

The San Francisco Giants have come to an agreement on a two year deal with INF Wilmer Flores.  Flores will offer depth to a San Francisco team that is still in transition under Farhan Zaidi.

In the early 2010s when the San Francisco Giants were in the midst of their dynasty, signing someone like Wilmer Flores probably meant he was going to become a postseason folk hero in the bay area.  Giants fans may remember Travis Ishikawa sending them to the World Series or Cody Ross launching two home runs against the late Roy Halladay. Hell, Edgar Renteria won the World Series MVP in the second to last season of his career back in 2010.

Unfortunately, the sunset on the Giants dynasty and they are in the rebuilding process with former Dodgers executive Farhan Zaidi.  As a team works to rebuild, they need competent Major Leaguers who can play adequately and serve as a mentor for young players.  Wilmer Flores is exactly that type of player and the Giants signed him to a two-year, $6M deal with a club option for a third season.

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Flores is only 28 but is at a spot in his career that he “is what he is” which is an acceptable role player.  This past season in Arizona, he was worth 1.1 fWAR which is the type of production you expect from a bench player.

In positive news though, Flores posted the best offensive season of his career slashing .317/.361/.487 good for a 120 wRC+. Looking at his batted ball profile, Flores just posted the best line drive % of his career at 25%. It could be one fluky year or it could be meaningful changes made on his first non-Mets team.

Defensively, Flores only lined up at 1B and 2B for the Diamondbacks and was below average at both positions.  His days contributing at SS are now over, but Flores can probably play 3B as well if needed.

As the Giants look to move players like Brandon Belt and Crawford and Evan Longoria, Flores is exactly the type of depth you want on hand who can play wherever is needed as the team rebuilds. He could also serve as one of the team’s primary 2B since the Giants ranked in the bottom third of the league in 2B production.

Whatever approach the San Francisco Giants with Flores, he will be an acceptable but unexciting piece for a rebuilding team.  When the Giants are good again, Flores will be a trivia question or list of veterans the Giants trotted out during their rebuild, until then though the Giants made a depth signing.