Yankees: New York Adds Hard-Throwing Tulane Pitcher as UDFA

The New York Yankees have added an impressive top prospect to their minor league corps as a UDFA.

The Yankees made another major move towards acquiring top talent at the low, low price of $20K following the 2020 MLB Draft’s truncated five rounds of action.

New York brought in three college pitchers on Sunday afternoon, signing Kentucky’s Carson Coleman, UCF’s Trevor Holloway, and BYU’s Jarrod Lessar, but decided on Tuesday morning that they hadn’t had enough of such luxuries.

The NYY announced a deal with Connor Pellerin of the Tulane Green Wave on Tuesday, and though the hard-throwing righty wasn’t quite impressive enough to make prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel’s Top 250 rankings ahead of draft night, he nearly made the cut, making Pellerin likely among the very best prospects who’ve signed over the previous several days.

Pellerin, a junior who is still under 21 years old, profiles as a relief option moving forward, though you could do far worse in the draft’s aftermath than a reliever with a heater that touches 97.

And if you thought Pellerin hadn’t participated in the Cape Cod League at any point during his collegiate tenure, then oh BOY, do we have news for you. Sarcasm filter deactivated: Pellerin threw 13 shutout innings for the Orleans Firebirds in 2019, whiffing 24 and walking exactly one man per inning (spot the weakness!). With such a limited scouting window in 2020, smart teams like the Yankees had almost no choice but to accelerate their preference for college arms who’ve shown flashes (or more) in wood bat Cape League action. Adding Pellerin to the fold, with plenty of evidence of his pedigree against top competition, makes perfect sense.

In the wake of the draft, many theorized that untethered players with free will would choose organizations like the Royals that have committed to treating players well during the coronavirus shutdown. It seems, as expected, that players have also flocked to organizations with a distinct history of success like the NYY.

Every Cape Cod League pitcher wants to throw for a contender, after all.