Former Cal outfielder Brandon McIlwain signed a non-drafted free agent contract with the New York Mets on Monday.
BASE6/15/2020 10:00 AM | By: Cal Athletics
Brandon McIlwain Signs With Mets
Former Cal Outfielder Agrees To Non-Drafted Free Agent Contract
BERKELEY – Former California outfielder
Brandon McIlwain is joining the New York Mets organization, as he announced his decision to sign a non-drafted free agent contract on Monday.
McIlwain, who graduated from Cal last month with a degree in Political Science, will forego his remaining collegiate eligibility. A former dual-sport athlete at both Cal and South Carolina, McIlwain made 33 career starts in center field for the Golden Bears throughout the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Last June, McIlwain was picked by the Miami Marlins in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB draft, but he did not sign and opted to return to Berkeley for a full academic year dedicated to baseball. As a redshirt junior, McIlwain made 15 starts in the shortened 2020 campaign and slashed .200/.273/.333 with 11 hits, seven runs four RBI and four stolen bases. A highlight reel moment came in late February when he blasted a two-run home run to help Cal defeat rival Stanford.
In 2019, McIlwain batted .258 with two home runs and eight RBI with 18 starts in 20 games before an injury in late April sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
As a quarterback for the Golden Bears in 2018, McIlwain played in 10 games with two starts and completed 62 percent of his passes for 762 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He racked up 403 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground as well, which were two shy of Cal's school record for a quarterback.
The Newtown, Pa., native started his collegiate career at South Carolina as a member of the Gamecocks' baseball and football programs. Although he saw limited action on the baseball field, McIlwain made an immediate impact on the gridiron, playing eight games and with three starts at quarterback as a freshman in 2016. He passed for 600 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another 127 yards and two scores.
Due to the changes made to the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft – which was shortened from 40 rounds to five rounds because of the COVID-19 pandemic – undrafted players were eligible to sign free-agent deals with professional organizations for a maximum bonus of $20K starting on June 14.
This year marked just the second time since 1968 that Cal did not have a student-athlete selected in the MLB draft.
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