The New York Yankees may have upgraded their team by doing something they haven’t done in 14 years.
New York claimed Cade Winquest in the Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday, making their first addition via the offseason waiver-style draft since 2011.
Winquest was an eighth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022 but was not protected by them by the Rule 5 Draft deadline last week. The 25-year-old, hard-throwing right-hander is from Fort Worth, Texas and played collegiately at the University of Texas.
Winquest has a big fastball and pitched very well at Double-A Springfield in 2025. He made eight starts for the Cardinals’ Double-A team, pitching to a 3.19 ERA and posting a 3-1 record.
New York’s last Rule 5 Draft selections were Cesar Cabral and Brad Meyers.
The Yankees View Cade Winquest As A Reliever
According to The Athletic, the Yankees have long liked Winquest’s arm. They intended to select him with their eighth-round selection in 2022 before the Cardinals swooped in to choose him with pick No. 247 that year — four picks before they chose infielder Brett Berrera.
So even though it took almost four years, the Yankees finally got their man.
“He’s got big velocity and has the characteristics that our pitching group is good at working with,” Yankees assistant general manager Mike Fishman said according to The Athletic. “We felt like he was the right guy who could help us. (We’ll) get him with our pitching department and make a few tweaks.”
According to beat reporter Chris Kirschner, the Yankees view Winquest as a hard-throwing reliever. He has touched 100 mph with his fastball, though according to Kirschner his best pitch is his curveball, which he used to generate a 46.2% whiff rate last year.
So that arsenal would work better for the Yankees as a reliever, especially since they have openings after right-hander Devin Williams signed with the New York Mets and they non-tendered righties Ian Hamilton, Scott Effross and Mark Leiter Jr. earlier this offseason.
“We identify candidates every year, and in the past, it hasn’t really lined up to the right player at the right time,” Fishman said. “We felt that the combination of the available player who fit a particular target of ours, as well as having openings on our pitching staff and open 40-man space, those three things lining up together allowed us to make a move this year.”
Rule 5 Draft Rules
The Rule 5 Draft may seem odd, but the rules are quite simple.
The Yankees paid the Cardinals $100,000 for Winquest — he will make the major-league rookie minimum this year — and he has to remain on New York’s 26-man active roster for the entire 2026 season.
If New York wants to make space for him, it cannot demote him to the minor leagues without first letting the Cardinals pay $50,000 for the chance to take him back to their organization. The Yankees may place him on the injured list if Winquest sustains an injury.
All teams with an active spot on their 40-man roster were eligible to make a selection Wednesday, yet Winquest was one of just 13 players chosen in the Rule 5 Draft.
The Chicago White Sox were the only team to pick more than one players Wednesday, since they chose Jedixson Paez from the Boston Red Sox and Alexander Alberto from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Yankees Poach 100-MPH Cardinals Pitcher in First Rule 5 Pick Since 2011