Former Mets infielder, 13-year MLB veteran, makes clear statement about retirement

Wilmer Flores is still unsigned. The 34-year-old infielder is coming off a down year with the San Francisco Giants. After playing parts of 13 seasons at the MLB level, Flores is approaching a stage when many players choose to retire.

However, Flores made it clear in an interview with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he has no intentions of hanging up his cleats just year.

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“I’m not done playing,” Flores said. “I’m just waiting.”

Specifically, Flores said, he’s waiting for a major league contract after turning down some minor league deals this offseasn.

Flores played 125 games last year for the Giants, slashing .241/.307/.379. Although his .686 OPS (96 OPS+) was serviceable, teams tend to look for more offense from the corner infield positions. Flores split last year between designated hitter, first base and third base for San Francisco.

Veteran first baseman Rhys Hoskins, by comparison, recently settled for a minor league deal after a season in which he produced a .748 OPS (108 OPS+) for the Milwaukee Brewers, who had the best regular season record in MLB. Hoskins is in camp with the Cleveland Guardians as a non-roster invitee.

Flores is two years older than Hoskins, and was only good enough on defense to produce a 0.3 bWAR in 2025. It’s likely he will have to accept a minor league deal if he wants to continue his major league career.

Flores is a career .259/.316/.429 hitter in his career with the New York Mets (2013-18), Arizona Diamondbacks (2019) and Giants (2020-25).

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