ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees are ruing the fact that they cut ties with Cade Winquest on Friday before ever actually getting to see him pitch in a regular season game.
If only they knew someone that could have helped with that predicament.
Alas, after the Rule 5 pick broke camp with the team but only got as close to his MLB debut as warming up in the bullpen, Winquest was officially designated for assignment on Friday to make room on the roster for the Yankees to call up Luis Gil to start against the Rays.
“We were forced to make a decision and ultimately, he hadn’t even pitched yet this year,” general manager Brian Cashman said Friday before the Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Rays. “It didn’t work out the way ultimately we wanted. But he’s really talented. We like the process we went through when we selected him, but it would have been nice to be able to find room to get him into games to develop, but it’s hard when you’re trying to compete to develop at the same time.
“So it just didn’t play out the way we wanted it to. … We think he’s got upside, he’s just going to need some time.”
If Winquest clears waivers, the Yankees must offer him back to the Cardinals for $50,000 (half of what they paid to select him in December’s Rule 5 draft).
If the Cardinals decline to take him back, the Yankees would then have a chance to keep him in the minor leagues.
While neither Cashman nor manager Aaron Boone second-guessed the decision to carry Winquest on the roster to begin the season — he was their ninth reliever as they started with a four-man rotation because of multiple early off days — they clearly never felt comfortable enough to use him through the first 12 games, most of which were relatively tight.
Lefty Brent Headrick appeared in eight of those games while five other relievers appeared in six, though off days helped somewhat to lighten the load.
“There were probably four or five games where he was a batter away from coming into the game and it just never happened, which disappoints me,” Boone said. “I wanted him to get in there and we wanted to see him and we still think very highly of him. [Thursday] was hard because obviously we invested that pick in him over the winter and we still believe this guy’s got a chance to be a really good pitcher in this league. So it was difficult, but just the early season so far declared itself in that way.”
The 25-year-old Winquest, who has yet to pitch above Double-A, did not have a great spring but still, Boone said, “a lot of smart people were seeing things and saying, ‘This guy’s got a chance to be really good.’ ”
But the Yankees are unlikely to get to see that to fruition.
The situation offered a reminder of why the Yankees rarely make picks in the Rule 5 draft, because it is difficult to stash a developing player on the roster for a full season while trying to compete at the highest level.
“It’s harder to do, without a doubt, but it can be done,” Cashman said. “I guess another day.”
Clarke Schmidt threw 10 fastballs off the mound Friday for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last July.
The right-hander was “pleasantly surprised” with how normal it felt, the latest milestone in a long rehab process that could get him back to the Yankees at some point in the second half.
“It’s been great,” said Schmidt, who hopes to face hitters by June. “I’m in the days of a lot of volume, this is a really high buildup phase, and I don’t feel stressed at all. It’s the perfect amount where you have to work through it and it’s not too much for my body. So it’s been good.”
Carlos Rodón (elbow, hamstring) is expected to face hitters again early next week.
The Yankees lost both of their automated ball-strike system challenges by the top of the fifth inning, after Jazz Chisholm Jr. and José Caballero were each unsuccessful trying to overturn the first pitch of an at-bat with nobody on base — continuing a rough week of challenges for the club.“Tonight, not very good ones,” Boone said.
