ORLANDO – The Yankees finally added an external piece to their active roster on Wednesday, though it was only via rare use of a pick in the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft.

The selection was Cade Winquest, a right-handed pitcher from the Cardinals’ organization.

Assistant general manager Michael Fishman said that the Yankees have liked Winquest since the 2022 MLB Draft. They hoped to pick him that year after using a seventh-round selection on Cam Schlittler, but the Cardinals selected the University of Texas at Arlington product before he fell to the Yankees in the eighth round.

“He’s got big velocity,” Fishman said, adding that Winquest possesses “characteristics that our pitching group is good at working with.”

Fishman declined to specify what those characteristics are, but

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