TIJUANA, Mexico — Wilmer Flores sat in the home dugout at Toros Mobil Park this week, far from the American metropolises where he endeared himself, yet not all that far removed from the game of his life. It was only a year ago Saturday, as a San Francisco Giant, that he hit three home runs and drove in eight runs in a 9-1 victory over the Athletics to move into a tie with Aaron Judge for the major-league RBI lead.And it was the next night, in front of another sellout crowd at Oracle Park, that Flores beat the A’s again. Facing Mason Miller, the hardest-throwing reliever in baseball, he fouled off two triple-digit fastballs, laid off consecutive close pitches and drew a bases-loaded, walk-off walk in the 10th inning. The Giants improved to 27-19, including 17-5 in games in which Flores drove in at least one run.However, when spring training opened this February, the infielder who once touched an entire city with his tears was still without a job. Flores had endured prolonged free agency in his previous stints on the open market. But this time, no one made a major-league offer. The Colorado Rockies, Flores said, were the lone team to extend a non-roster invitation. Flores declined it, figuring he faced long odds of breaking camp with one of the league’s youngest clubs.“Yeah, I was disappointed,” Flores said. “I definitely feel like I could help somebody.”Flores, 34, has come to embody how the Statcast-driven evolution of his sport is pushing out accomplished players. In March, he signed with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League. After those two magical days in San Francisco, he had plummeted back to earth. He completed what might have been his final major-league campaign with 16 home runs, 71 RBIs and a .686 OPS that helps explain why he is here, competing in a foreign environment.“I know baseball has changed a lot. A lot of looking for people to hit the ball hard. And a lot of metrics and all that stuff,” said Flores, who compiled 169 home runs across parts of 13 big-league seasons. “A lot of good players that … can play baseball, but they don’t have the exit velo or the slugging. It doesn’t mean you can’t play in the big leagues. It just means that, you know, there’s just a lot of players.”