Yankees give Brett Phillips the chance he was asking for after mysterious audition

Pictured Above: Brett Phillips shrugging, which amounts to the sum total of guarantees the Yankees likely gave him this week when they came to an agreement.

Still, though, you can't help but be intrigued by the Yankees moving in the dead of night, capitalizing on a viral video and getting to be the ones who'll help tell a potentially very interesting story.

Phillips, who you may remember from walking off Kenley Jansen on the mind-bending play that ended Game 4 of the 2020 World Series, was a smiling thorn in the Yankees' side during his Rays days. He also played for Milwaukee, Kansas City, Baltimore and Anaheim at the big-league level, while attempting to stick in numerous other cities in the minors.

He's been out of baseball this season, though. Unsurprisingly, if you remember his impish spirit, he spent his time away from the game concocting something.

Phillips showed up, somewhat anonymously, in a showcase this week as a pitcher, burning 97 MPH and wiping out the opposition with a plus slider.

Less than 24 hours after this clip first emerged, complete with an adorable dash of announcer disbelief, Phillips was a Yankee. Clearly, New York already had intel here, and just wanted some game tape to flesh out their scouting instincts. They certainly got what they were looking for on Monday.

Yankees sign Brett Phillips to minor-league deal to help complete pitching comeback

Hilariously, the announcement of the Phillips deal came right on the heels of the scoop that the Yankees were trading for Cubs relief ace Mark Leiter Jr., leading some fans to believe the two moves were of equivalent import. By no means; Leiter Jr. will hopefully step into the big-league 'pen and quell some fears of hittability, while Phillips' destination remains unknown. He'll head from the Indy Leagues to some level of the Yankees' minors, probably as close as he can get to the team's pitching lab in Tampa with the Tarpons.

Regardless of the eventual impact, it's always nice to be the ones who lend a helping hand during an inspirational comeback story, rather than the ones who shun an underdog and lose out on a potentially impactful player. It doesn't cost much to be interesting.