Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
For the first time in Farhan Zaidi’s tenure atop the Giants, he is close to making a commitment that lasts longer than one season.
Wilmer Flores appears to be the first free agent to take the president of baseball operations up on a multi-year deal, KNBR confirmed on Tuesday. The deal, whose terms are not yet known, still needs some work, a source said, but it’s believed to be nearly finished. ESPN first reported the pact.
The utilityman who played mostly second with the Diamondbacks last season but has experience at first, second and third should be bringing his versatile glove to the Giants.
Flores, a righty, crushed lefties last season (.337/.367/.615) during a very nice, abbreviated year with Arizona, mostly as a bench player, after six seasons with the Mets.
The 28-year-old has some pop, with nine home runs in 285 plate appearances last season, and could further diversify Mauricio Dubon, who’s expected to see time at shortstop and center field, too. Flores also could spell Brandon Belt at first base against lefties. With Yolmer Sanchez in camp, too, as well as Donovan Solano still in play, the Giants will have a bunch of flexible infield options to try out.
But they have committed to Flores, who has both killed Giants pitching in the past and, in a small-sample size, has raked in San Francisco. In 37 career games against the Giants, he has batted .387 with five homers in 119 at-bats. In 13 games at Oracle Park, he has slashed .349/.408/.512 with a homer.
Since Zaidi took over the reins in November 2018, he had not given out a multi-season pact until now. The Giants are still in the process of rebuilding, but they have identified one piece for the immediate future.
