Yankees Select Cade Winquest in Rule 5
The Yankees didn’t lose a prospect in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 draft. This is the second consecutive year that they have not lost anyone. You can all stop screaming from the rooftops over how stupid it is to leave Low-A pitchers exposed.
They did make a rare choice, their first one since 2011, when they selected RHP Cade Winquest out of the Cardinals’ organization.
Winquest, who will be 26 in April, was the Cardinals’ 8th round pick in the 2022 draft out of Texas at Arlington.
In 2025, split between the Cardinals’ High-A and Double-A levels, he pitched to a 3.99 ERA over 106 innings with a 23.9% K/8.5% BB/48% GB.
I found a blurb about him on Fangraphs from 2023, where they talked about his ability to throw strikes while “touching” 95.
He has low odds of making the team. However, they get a chance to look at him this spring to see if they can tap into anything. If they like him, they could swing a small trade with the Cardinals to keep him. Or maybe he is their Garrett Whitlock (yeah, right).
The Yankees selected RHP Hancel Rincon from the Brewers DSL roster in the Triple-A phase of the draft. He is 23 years old and hasn’t pitched since 2023 as a member of the Diamondbacks organization. The Brewers just signed him in November.
Additionally, they increased their catching depth (which was needed) by selecting Abrahan Gutierrez from the Athletics organization. He is already 26 years old with plenty of minor league experience (473 games). He has a .261/.346/.370 triple slash over 1,922 plate appearances and has made it as high as Triple-A. The Athletics just signed him on December 4th. The Yankees traded some young catchers at last year’s deadline. Furthermore, Omar Martinez declared free agency after the season. Gutierrez is probably their #4 catcher at the moment. That’s how stripped down their catching ranks are.
The Yankees lost RHP Adam Stone to the Cubs in the Triple-A phase of the draft. Stone, who has battled injuries since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard in 2022, pitched in seven games in the Arizona Fall League this year.
Additionally, the Yankees lost RHP Sean Hermann, their 14th-round pick in the 2021 draft, to the Mariners. He has a ground ball profile (53.9% in 2025) but struggles to miss bats. The Mets chose LHP Matt Turner, whom I didn’t even know the Yankees had. He isn’t even listed as a transaction on milb.com. The 26-year-old lefty was the 11th-round pick by Cleveland back in 2017. He spent the 2025 season in the Rockies’ organization, where he posted a 5.79 ERA over 56 delightful innings.
As a reminder, players chosen in the Triple-A phase do not need to be returned to their original clubs.