Yankees get Brad Meyers in Rule 5 draft

In the Rule 5 draft, the Yankees did not lose anybody and selected righthander Brad Meyers, 26, from the Nationals with the 29th pick of the major-league phase.

The 6-6 Meyers went 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) with Class A Auburn, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse. Cashman said he hopes Meyers can win the role of long man, filled in 2011 by Hector Noesi, whom the Yankees see as a starter.

"I don't want to waste his time as a long man if we can avoid it," Cashman said of Noesi.

The Yankees increased their roster to 40 by acquiring lefthander Cesar Cabral from the Royals in exchange for cash. Cabral, 22, selected by the Royals from the Red Sox Thursday before being dealt to the Yankees, went 3-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 36 relief appearances.

"Fastball gets up to 94, fastball, slider, changeup guy," Cashman said. "We like him a lot. He's got ability and he can get lefties out. So we'll see what we see in the spring."