Yankees, Brian Cashman not regretting move to cut…
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees are ruing the fact that they cut ties with Cade Winquest on Friday before ever really getting to see him pitch in a common season sport.
If only they knew somebody that may have helped with that predicament.
Alas, after the Rule 5 decide broke camp with the group but only acquired as close to his MLB debut as warming up in the bullpen, Winquest was formally designated for task 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,” basic supervisor Brian Cashman said Friday before the Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Rays. “It didn’t work out the best way in the end we wished. But he’s actually gifted. We like the method we went through when we chosen him, but it could have been good to have the opportunity to discover room to get him into video games to develop, but it’s laborious when you’re making an attempt 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 choose him in December’s Rule 5 draft).
If the Cardinals decline to take him back, the Yankees would then have a likelihood to keep him in the minor leagues.
While neither Cashman nor supervisor Aaron Boone second-guessed the choice to carry Winquest on the roster to start the season — he was their ninth reliever as they began with a four-man rotation because of a number of early off days — they clearly never felt comfy enough to use him through the first 12 video games, most of which have been comparatively tight.
Lefty Brent Headrick appeared in eight of those video games while 5 other relievers appeared in six, though off days helped considerably to lighten the load.
Cade Winquest did not pitch in a sport during his short time with the Yankees. AP
“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 state of affairs provided a reminder of why the Yankees not often make picks in the Rule 5 draft, because it’s troublesome to stash a developing participant on the roster for a full season while making an attempt to compete at the best degree.
“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 present process Tommy John surgical procedure last July.
The right-hander was “pleasantly surprised” with how regular it felt, the latest milestone in a long rehab course of that may get him back to the Yankees at some level 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 anticipated to face hitters again early next week.
The Yankees misplaced both of their automated ball-strike system challenges by the top of the fifth inning, after Jazz Chisholm Jr. and José Caballero have been each unsuccessful making an attempt to overturn the first pitch of an at-bat with no person on base — persevering with a tough week of challenges for the membership.“Tonight, not very good ones,” Boone said.
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