Cal dual-sport star Brandon McIlwain signs with the New York Mets

It wasn’t long ago that Brandon McIlwain was throwing the football for the California Golden Bears.

It was more recent that he was starting in the outfield for the Cal Bears baseball team.

And now, McIlwain will suit up in the New York Mets system in the near future after signing an undrafted contract with the team.

McIlwain played two seasons of football and baseball together but after forgoing on the MLB after being drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2019, he returned for the 2020 season focused solely on baseball. He made 15 starts before the season was shut down by COVID-19 and even had one of the short season’s highlights when he blasted a home run that defeated Stanford.

He hit .200 with 11 hits, seven runs, four RBI and another four stolen bases in just those 15 starts this season. In 2019, he finished the year .258 from the plate with two HR, eight RBI in just 18 starts while also a member of the football team prior.

In football, between the 2016 season with South Carolina and the 2018 season with Cal, he threw for 1,363 yards on 142 completions with four touchdowns and nine interceptions. He ran the ball another 129 times for 654 yards and six touchdowns in his career.

After focusing solely on baseball for the 2020 season, he left the football program prior to the 2019 season and it seems that moved paid off as he’ll join the Mets on an undrafted contract after the 2020 MLB Draft was shortened to just five rounds.

The changes to the MLB draft also made it so that undrafted players were eligible to sign free-agent deals with the professional organizations for a maximum bonus of $20k starting June 14. No surprise that McIlwain signed on June 14.

Congratulations Brandon, we’ll see you in the Big Apple soon!