A tall, massive, pure power-hitting slugger with a fairly lengthy injury history and potentially high risk of more injuries? Sounds like a New York Yankee to me!
To complete the deal that sent outfielder Mike Tauchman to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Wandy Peralta, the Yankees announced that they had received infielder Connor Cannon.
And what exactly are they getting in Cannon? A raw prospect who FanGraphs ranked as the No. 40 player in the Giants farm system with a whole lot of intrigue, both good and bad. Let's get the negative out of the way first. Baseball America says that he has a "scary" injury history, according to Rail Riders beat writer Conor Foley, and FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen writes that he has mobility issues due to multiple knee surgeries and more medical problems. His running tool, as listed by Longenhagen, is as low as it gets at 20/20. It also looks as though he strikes out a fairly significant amount, though that doesn't present as large a problem in today's MLB, especially when you consider the positives.
The positives, of course, are that the dude can absolutely rake. In limited minor league experience in the 2019 Arizona League, Cannon belted 13 home runs in just 132 at-bats with a slash line of .326/.399/.689. That's some serious stuff. It's so serious, in fact, that both FanGraphs and Baseball America gave him a perfect 80/80 power grade.
What's an 80 power grade in layman's terms? Think Joey Gallo, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Sano and Kris Bryant, all of whom received the elusive 80 power grade as prospects. Those are some guys with varying levels of success at the big league level, but each guy's power is undeniable.
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