Cade Winquest, a history-making pitcher for the New York Yankees, has been returned to the St. Louis Cardinals after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft. He did not pitch in a regular season game for the Yankees.
Yankees send history-making pitcher to Cardinals originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Cade Winquest made history for the New York Yankees, and he didn't even pitch in a regular season game for them.
Now, he's heading back to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Yankees took Winquest in the Rule 5 Draft in the offseason, but on Monday, he was returned to the Cardinals:
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The 6-foot-2 righty Winquest topped out at Double-A Springfield in the Cardinals' system last year, where he had a 3.19 ERA in eight starts on the mound.
This spring, he didn't put up great numbers. Winquest had a 6.48 ERA in 8.1 innings, allowing 11 hits and six earned runs while striking out seven.
The Yankees hadn't picked a player in the Rule 5 Draft since 2011. They hadn't kept one on the Opening Day roster since 1973.
To retain Winquest in the organization, he would've had to be kept on the MLB roster all year, but the Yankees decided not to do that.
Oddly, he warmed up a handful of times in the bullpen but never came into a game.
The Yankees designated Winquest for assignment last week, which set the ball rolling to the Cardinals getting him back.
St. Louis can now send Winquest back to the minor leagues so he can continue his development. The Yankees didn't end up finding a way to make things work.
Cade Winquest made history for the Yankees despite not pitching in a regular season game, highlighting the unique circumstances of his selection in the Rule 5 Draft.
The Yankees returned Cade Winquest to the Cardinals after he was unable to secure a spot on their roster during the offseason.
The Rule 5 Draft allows teams to select unprotected players from other teams, requiring them to keep the selected players on their active roster for the entire season or offer them back to their original team, as happened with Winquest.
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