Cade Winquest’s “Yankeeography” will simply be clips of him warming up.
The Yankees are designating the Rule 5 Draft reliever for assignment after failing to use him in any of the team’s first 12 games in an odd case of roster management, noti.group’s Jon Heyman confirmed.
Luis Gil is taking his roster spot in order to start Friday’s series opener against the Rays in Tampa.
There is still a path, though, for Winquest to remain with the team and perhaps actually enter a game.
The 25-year-old righty will now be placed on outright waivers, affording other teams the chance to claim or the Yankees to potentially facilitate a trade.
Should he clear waivers, Winquest will be offered back to his original team, the Cardinals, for $50,000 and if they decline to take him back, then the Yankees can send him to the minor leagues.
With the Cardinals (7-5) in a rebuild, it may behoove them to welcome him back since at least one other major league team sees potential in the righty.
If this is the end for Winquest, there are plenty of questions about how the Yankees handled his 12-game stretch with the team.
The Yankees did not have to carry him on their Opening Day roster, since most competitive teams do not carry such players due to the roster limitations, but he flashed enough in camp to secure a roster spot.
And then he did a whole lot of sitting around.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he almost used Winquest during a 5-0 win over Seattle in the second series, but wanted another run before “probably” using him.
“There’s been a couple games that he’s almost been in,” Boone said after Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the A’s. “With the off days, for the most part, we’ve been dealing on most days with a fairly full pen, with the exception of a couple days where we’ve been real short. Situation’s got to present itself, though.
“He’s ready to go when that opportunity comes.”
By choosing not to use Winquest, the Yankees essentially played a man short for the first four series. While that hasn’t stopped the team from a strong 8-4 start, that led to some of the team’s more valuable relievers covering innings that perhaps could have been covered by Winquest or someone else.
Six of the Yankees’ relievers have already appeared in at least half of the team’s games, with Brent Headrick somehow pitching in eight thus far.
It’s clear the Yankees did not trust him enough to pitch him, but it’s fair to wonder why the team would carry him for 12 games and play a man short the entire time and then DFA him so soon after.
The Yankees essentially opted to play with a 25-man roster and now might not even reap any benefits from Winquest’s potential upside.
The Cardinals drafted Winquest in the eighth round of the 2022 MLB Draft and he peaked at Double-A, posting a 4.19 ERA while mostly serving as a starter.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
