Another San Francisco Giants Infielder Has Huge Contract Decision to Make

The San Francisco Giants veteran infielder's contract situation could go a couple of different ways at the end of the season.

Jun 12, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants first base Wilmer Flores (41) makes a play at first during the fourth inning against the Houston Astros at Oracle Park. / Bob Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants roster could look a bit different next season due to players with contract options, but at least one veteran has an interesting decision to make.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com explored the big name players that have options coming up on their contracts at the end of the season and had trouble coming up with a definitive answer for Wilmer Flores.

"Flores has a $3.5 million player option for the final year of the three-year, $16.5 million contract he signed in September 2022. Should Flores decline the option, however, the Giants would then hold an $8.5 million club option, giving them an opportunity to keep Flores with a raise from the $6.5 million he’s earned in each of the past two seasons," said Feinsand.

The 33-year-old has been in San Francisco since the 2020 season. He's signed a couple of contracts with the team, which means the working relationship might be good.

Confusion comes after his incredibly down 2024 season, which just came to an abrupt end after it was announced that a July knee injury would keep him out for the rest of the year.

Even when healthy, he didn't play up to the player that people have become accustomed to. Over his last 71 games, he had a .206/.277/.318 slashing line with just four home runs and 26 RBI.

It could be just a down year, baseball is a hard game. He's had an OPS north of .780 in six of the last nine seasons.

Just a year ago, he had a .284/.355/.509 slashing line with 23 home runs and 60 RBI. That's the player that the Giants were hoping to get again.

The future of his time in San Franciso is in his own hands, though. A fresh start somewhere else could potentially do him well, but it will likely come down to how much he can fetch on an open market.

It's not likely that the team will sign up to pay him $8.5 million after how bad his season had gone, plus the fact that he'll be coming off of a knee injury.

Even before getting injured, he was sent back to the bench in favor of LaMonte Wade Jr.

Flores' best bet will likely be accepting the $3.5 million option with hopes of coming back stronger after getting healthy. He won't be a starter for them, but could find playing time as a utility corner infielder.

There's also just the chance that the Giants either trade him or cut him, which would free him up to another team but still get him some money.