ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite their best efforts, the Yankees were unable to generate the traction they sought during the Winter Meetings, with general manager Brian Cashman describing an offseason that has seemed to move at “glacial speed.”
“We’re just staying engaged, trying to match up with some things, but it’s been tough so far,” Cashman said Wednesday. “I don’t like the asks coming our way, and I guess the opposing teams don’t like what I’m trying to pull from them on the trade stuff. We do have some conversations that possibly could lead somewhere, but clearly if we had something, we would have done it.”
The Yankees arrived in Orlando with Cody Bellinger atop their wish list, and that hasn’t changed. They have plenty of competition, as Scott Boras creatively detailed, painting the picture of a marketplace where as many as eight teams could be bidding for the free agent outfielder.
Unlike a year ago, when the team pivoted from Juan Soto toward moves that brought Bellinger, Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams to the Bronx, the Yankees are expressing confidence that they have most of their necessary answers coming off a 94-win season that ended in the American League Division Series.
“We have a strong team. The job is to make it better and make it stronger,” Cashman said. “But [saying] it and doing it are two different things. We’re trying to pull that off, and it takes time. There’s a lot of time on the board, and there’s a lot of inventory still there. A lot of possibilities are in play.”
“I think it’s important to know that this isn’t the end of the winter. We’ve got two months until Spring Training. Whatever happens between now and then, I think we’re going to be really good. That’s the expectation. We’ll see how it unfolds. There’s still some runway to do some things, which I’m sure we will.” — Boone
The Yankees selected right-hander Cade Winquest from the Cardinals in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft, marking the organization’s first such selection since 2011.
Yankees assistant general manager Michael Fishman said the team has been targeting Winquest since the 2022 MLB Draft, when he was selected in the eighth round by St. Louis.
“He’s got big velocity,” Fishman said. “He has characteristics that our pitching group is good at working with. We’ll get him with our pitching department and make a few tweaks. He’s somebody who hopefully could help us.”
Winquest, 25, was a combined 5-7 with a 3.99 ERA in 25 games (23 starts) for High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield this past season. In 106 innings, he permitted 105 hits with 39 walks and 110 strikeouts. Fishman said Winquest will likely come into the spring competing for a bullpen spot.
Clubs pay $100,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft, but if that player doesn’t stay on the active Major League roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $50,000.
In the Minor League phase, the Yankees selected right-hander Hansel Rincon from the Brewers and catcher Abrahan Gutierrez from the Athletics. New York lost three players: right-hander Adam Stone (Cubs), right-hander Sean Hermann (Mariners) and left-hander Matt Turner (Mets).
“Ultimately, what we want is to have a team that is going to rack up the win totals to push themselves into the postseason and win it all. Everything adds up, everything counts. We’re an aggressive franchise, but we already have some very large commitments. The more of those you have, the more it affects you in other areas. Everything’s tied together.
“Our ownership has obviously demonstrated, year in and year out, how massively committed they are. At the same time, that’s not an open blank checkbook, either. So you try to navigate it the best you possibly can.” — Cashman
