ORLANDO, Fla. — The Yankees usually pass on selecting anyone in the Rule 5 draft because it’s not easy for perennial contenders to hand a big-league roster spot to a prospect.
On the final day of the Winter Meetings, the Bomber made an exception by picking a Double-A right-hander who throws in the high 90s and touches 100 mph.
The Yankees’ first Rule 5 pick since 2011 was right-hander Cade Winquest, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder who spent the last three seasons as a Cardinals prospect after being drafted in the eighth round of the 2022 draft out of Texas-Arlington.
“Cade’s been somebody we’ve been following since the draft,” Yankees assistant general manager Michael Fishman said. “He was somebody we were targeting in the draft back in 2022. He got picked a few picks before us, but he’s got big velocity, and he’s somebody we really felt has characteristics that our pitching staff, our pitching is good at working with.”
Winquest will be in the mix to win a bullpen spot, where the Yankees, “probably have more openings,” Fishman said. “He’ll be competing for a spot (there).”
Still, Winquest has to be regarded as a longshot because he must remain on their 26-man roster or their injured list for the entire 2026 season or be offered back to the Cardinals. After all, he’ll turn 26 in April, he’s never pitched above Double-A and his career numbers don’t stand out.
In three seasons as a Cardinal’s farmhand, the Fort Worth, Texas native has a 8-16 record with a 4.19 ERA over 58 games, 38 as a starter, with 219 strikeouts in 212.2 innings.
Last year, Winquest was 5-7 with 3.99 ERA in 25 games at two levels. He was 3-1 with a 3.19 ERA in eight starts with Double-A Springfield after beginning the season going 2-6 with a 5.37 in 17 outings with High-A Peoria, 15 as a starter.
Winquest never has been ranked among the Cardinals’ top 30 prospects by MLB Pipeline.
The Yankees have to pay the Cardinals $100,000 for Winquest and they’ll get $50,000 back if he’s offered back to St. Louis before the end of the 2026 season.
“We felt like he was kind of the right guy who is going to help us, get him with our pitching department, and make a few tweaks,” Fishman said. “We had our pitching coaches take a look at him and weigh in on their thoughts. Everybody’s got their own ideas. We want to get our hands on him and get start working with him.”
The Yankees didn’t lose any of their prospects in the Major League phrase of the Rule 5 draft.
In the Triple-A phase, the Yankees picked Brewers right-hander Hansel Rincon in the first round and Athletics catcher Abrahamn Gutierrez in the second round.
The Yankees lost two prospects in the Triple-A phase with the Cubs drafting right-hander Adam Stone in the first round, the Mariners selecting right-hander Sean Hermann in the second round and the Mets taking left-hander Matt Turner in the third round.
