Yankees' Rule 5 draft choice actually fulfills a four-year quest

Prior to last week, the New York Yankees hadn't made a Rule 5 draft choice since 2011 — it was Washington Nationals pitcher Brad Meyers, if you're wondering, though former Yankees Lucas Luetge and Marwin Gonzalez also moved that December.

Clearly, they saw a very good reason to break the mold and dedicate a 40-man roster spot to a newcomer this week, stealing Cade Winquest from the St. Louis Cardinals. As it turns out, this decision was very intentional. It might've been four-plus years in the making.

The 2025 Winter Meetings was not the first time the Yankees considered drafting Winquest. In the summer of 2022, after extensive scouting over the course of the previous season, the Yankees braintrust weighed two projectable seventh-round picks: Winquest from the University of Texas at Arlington and ... Cam Schlittler from Northeastern. Ultimately, they saw more room for growth in Schlittler's 6'6" frame and put in more east coast hours chasing him, opting to hold off on taking the 6'2" Winquest until the eighth round.

He never reached the Yankees' pick; the Cardinals snapped him up, and while a back injury sapped most of his 2024 season, he rode a ridiculous curveball to a 3.19 ERA in eight Double-A starts last season. He also immediately inserted himself into MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Yankees prospects upon arrival in the system.

Cade Winquest fulfilled his Yankees destiny, and will join a roster with Cam Schlittler

Calling his curve "ridiculous" might be diminishing the intensity of its break; opponents batted .143 against it last season, and 46% of the batters who dared to swing ... missed. Ironically, Winquest is a lot like Schlittler: one supremely dominant pitch, and some work required on the rest of the arsenal in order to approach their potential ceilings. Schlittler's fastball almost single-pitchedly carried him through last year's postseason. Now, he's working on a changeup to match.

Winquest? Who knows what's next beyond sharpening his fastball, but one thing we can say with certainty is that the Yankees have a distinct plan in mind here. They're supremely familiar with Winquest's arsenal and capabilities. They've been watching him closely for years. And they never would've made a Rule 5 selection at all if they weren't supremely confident in their theories.