How new Giant Wilmer Flores’ tears won over New York.
Multiyear deal for infielder who hammers lefties
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Wilmer Flores loves the show “Friends.” The newest Giant refined his English by watching it. When he comes to bat, he walks up to the show’s theme song. Friends of “Friends” howled when Netflix recently pulled all of the episodes, but not Flores.
“I have all the DVDs,” he said, “so don’t worry about it.”
On July 30, 2015, Flores stepped to the plate at Citi Field like he had hundreds of times as the Rembrandts sang, “I’ll be there for you.” This atbat was different. Mets fan gave him a standing ovation and he had no idea why.
The popular infielder had no clue that the club was about to trade him to the Brewers, with pitcher Zack Wheeler, for outfielder Carlos Gomez. But the public learned about it during the game.
By the time Flores took the field for the next half inning, a teammate had shown him a story on the MLB At Bat app that said his careerlong tenure with the Mets was ending. In a scene captured by television cameras, and that captivated the millions of folks who saw the video, Flores stood on the infield dirt and started to cry.
The Mets had signed him out of Venezuela on his 16th
birthday in 2007. He rose through their system. They were all he knew.
“It’s just the place where you’re born,” Flores said.
No one told him life was gonna be that way.
Flores related the ofttold story inside the home clubhouse at Scottsdale Stadium on Thursday, a day after the Giants formalized their twoyear, $6.25 million contract with the tall 28yearold, the first multiyear contract that Farhan Zaidi has issued as San Francisco’s president of baseball operations.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Flores said. “I actually didn’t know that.”
Zaidi said Thursday that he targeted two free agents who destroyed lefthanded pitching last year. Hunter Pence was one, Flores the other. The Giants now have both.
“They were two of the top 40, 50 hitters in baseball against lefthanded pitching last year,” Zaidi said. “We talked about what might be an increase in lefthanded pitching in our division. We just wanted to be prepared for that, and so those guys were really part of the same overall strategy.”
Flores plays first and second base. He can spell Brandon Belt at first. Second is a position without an incumbent.
Mauricio Dubon is expected to become a superutility player who can play second, short and the outfield. The club also signed Yolmer Sanchez, the reigning American League Gold Glover at second base with the White Sox, to a minorleague deal.
The stability of a twoyear contract with a thirdyear option is meaningful to Flores, given what happened on that summer evening in New York.
The trade did not get done. The Mets called it off when Gomez’s medicals raised a red flag. General manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins were livid that the proposed trade was leaked, leading to tears that Flores need not have shed.
“A lot of guys get traded for the first time and they get sad,” Flores said. “I know a lot of guys who have gotten traded and have cried as well. Just not on the field.”
Once baseballdom realized what happened and why Flores was crying, he was showered with love from fans “who fell for me,” he said.
He remained with the Mets in 2015, when they went to the World Series, and was thrust into the spotlight again when he played shortstop during a Division Series after the Dodgers’ Chase Utley broke Ruben Tejada’s right leg with a hard takeout slide.
Flores finally had to leave the place where he was “born” after the 2018 season, when the Mets chose not to resign him. The Diamondbacks took him in.
He hit .317 in 2019. In 109 plate appearances against lefties, he batted .337 with a superb OPS of .982.
“We’ve seen him do damage in big situations,” new Giants manager Gabe Kapler said, specifically a walkoff homer that beat the Phillies in the first game of a 2018 doubleheader.
That was a happy day for Flores. The day “Friends” costar Matthew Perry visited Citi Field? Not so much. Flores was rehabbing an injury and missed meeting him.
Flores is really a Joey Tribbiani guy. Had he missed Matt LeBlanc, the city of New York
really would have seen some tears.