Inside The Pinstripes

Connor Cannon Completes Yankees’ Tauchman-Peralta Trade With Giants

Cannon, 23, has played in just 37 professional games but has shown real power from the right side.

Gary Phillips

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports // Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees’ newest farmhand is a former Highlander.

New York acquired infielder Connor Cannon from the Giants on Tuesday night, thus completing the Mike Tauchman-Wandy Peralta trade. The deal, which initially landed Peralta in the Bronx on April 27, included a player to be named later for New York.

The 23-year-old Cannon has not appeared in a minor league game since 2019 due to the pandemic, and he has just 37 professional contests on his resume. However, Cannon shined in 35 games with the rookie level Arizona League Giants-Orange, slashing .326/.399/.689 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI. The right-handed hitter posted a 181 wRC+.

Cannon was named an Arizona League Postseason All-Star. He also spent two games with the short-season Single-A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in 2019.

Strictly a first baseman since turning pro, Cannon spent some time on the mound in college, following in the footsteps of his father, Scott, a minor league pitcher in the Angels organization in the mid-80s. It was Cannon’s bat, however, that persuaded the Giants to draft him in the 17th round out of UC Riverside in 2019. The Temecula, California native hit .286/.367/.539 over three seasons with the Highlanders, adding 36 dingers and 105 RBI.

Cannon will likely be on the older side wherever he reports for the Yankees, and multiple knee surgeries have hindered the mobility of an already large frame (6-foot-5, 240 pounds), according to FanGraphs. He also struck out 25% of the time in rookie ball in 2019. 

Cannon’s pop, however, is for real. It earned him an 80/80 raw power grade from FanGraphs, which also ranked him San Francisco’s 40th-best prospect in March.

As for the other members of the Yankees-Giants trade, Tauchman was expendable to New York at the time of the deal, receiving just 16 plate appearances in 11 games due to a crowded outfield. It wouldn’t have taken long for him to be of service—Aaron Hicks has since gotten hurt and the Yankees have not received consistent production from outfielders not named Aaron Judge—but Tauchman is seeing more consistent playing time in the Bay Area.

The 30-year-old’s struggles at the plate, which plagued him last year as well, have continued in San Francisco, however. Tauchman is hitting just .189/.318/.289 with two longballs and eight RBI for the Giants.

A glove-first player, he did rob Albert Pujols of a walk-off homer on May 29.

Peralta, meanwhile, had the underlying look of a pitcher the Yankees could improve when they traded for him—it also didn’t hurt that he had an option—and that’s been the case to an extent.

The lefty reliever had a 5.40 ERA with San Francisco, but he has a 3.86 mark since coming over to the American League. He has maintained a 21.6 K% with the Yankees, though his BB% has jumped from 8.1% to 13.5%. Opponent are hitting just .156 against him as a Yankee, opposed to .324 as a Giant.

Peralta threw 8.1 innings over 10 games for the Giants this year. He’s logged 9.1 innings over 13 games for New York so far.

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Gary Phillips
GARY PHILLIPS

A graduate of Seton Hall, Gary Phillips has written and/or edited for The Athletic, The New York Times, Sporting News, USA Today Sports’ Jets Wire, Bleacher Report and Yankees Magazine, among others. He can be reached at garyhphillips@outlook.com.

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