The Yankees released Winans on Wednesday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.
Per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com, Winans is finalizing a contract with the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball. The right-hander has performed well in the minors (career 2.70 ERA) but hasn't figured it out at the big-league level, holding a 7.48 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 44:15 K:BB over 49.1 innings covering parts of three seasons.