Yankees Select Cade Winquest in Rule 5 Draft

ORLANDO, FLA -- The New York Yankees made their first selection in the Rule 5 draft since 2011 Wednesday. In the first round of the Rule 5 draft, the Yankees selected right-hander Cade Winquest from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Winquest's selection is primarily based on his encouraging performance in 2025, especially after a mid-season promotion to Double-A Springfield. He compiled a 3.99 ERA with 110 strikeouts and 39 walks over 106.0 innings in 25 games (23 starts). The Yankees do see Winquest as a reliever, not a starter. Following his promotion, he posted a much stronger 3.19 ERA with a 3.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 8 starts. This suggests he began finding consistency against more advanced competition.

Winquest possesses a quality fastball, reportedly sitting in the mid-90s and occasionally touching triple digits. His two most reliable secondary pitches have historically been a plus curveball and an effective changeup -- which he has recently experimented with swapping for a splitter grip.

"He's got big velocity." Yankees assistant General Manager Michael Fishman said following the selection Wednesday. "He has characteristics that our pitching group is good at working with."

Seeing Winquest work with the Yankees Pitching Lab is something I am excited to see.

Winquest will begin the season on the Yankees 26-man roster. The Yankees must keep him on the 26-man roster all season or else the Yankees risk losing him on wavers. If he cleares wavers, the Yankees will offer him back to St. Louis for $50,000. If they do not accept, he will be outrighted to the minors.