SERGUEY LINARES

2/1/83; NDFA '06; Cuba
R/R; 6-4, 225

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2007 A+

6-7-0

82.2

5.12

4.14

1.52

.255

4.35

2007 A

1-0-0

22.1

3.63

4.03

1.03

.189

1.61

2008 A

0-2-1

26.0

7.96

4.50

2.19

.324

9.00

2008 R

0-0-0

7.0

3.86

5.14

1.14

.200

2.57

After signing Yoslan Herrera, the Pirates went for another Cuban defector by signing Linares to a minor league contract for $125K. Linares had earlier agreed to a more lucrative deal with the Red Sox, but they backed out when a physical showed a slightly torn rotator cuff due to an abnormal bone growth. Linares primarily attracted interest because he was clocked up to 98 mph in the past, but as of the time he signed with the Pirates, his velocity had been down to 90-91. His other pitches—a couple different curves and a change—aren't good. His performance in Cuba's top league was poor and, like Herrera, he's had a two-year layoff due to the unblocking process. It's not hard to see why the Pirates' system deteriorated so badly under Dave Littlefield when you consider that they were willing to spend this much on a long shot Cuban pitcher with significant health issues but refused to invest nearly as much in any Dominican or Venezuelan prospect. They were unwilling, while Kevin McClatchy and Littlefield were running things, to make any investment that had no chance of a payoff within a year or two.

Linares didn't have surgery and began pitching for Hickory in late May after a stint in extended spring training. He gave up very few runs in his four starts for the Crawdads, but the very low K rate was a warning sign. After moving up to Lynchburg, he struggled most of the time, allowing a lot of baserunners. The awful K/BB ratio speaks for itself. On the plus side, he didn't get bombed—the problem was more his control—and he managed to go five innings in most of his starts, so he wasn't having complete meltdowns. His velocity apparently wasn't a problem, as it reportedly got back up to the mid-90s. He was expected to return to Lynchburg for 2008, but started the season on the disabled list and didn't emerge until July, when he did a rehab stint in the GCL. He headed for Hickory after that and was terrible, unable to throw strikes and very hittable. He'll be 26 by spring of 2009. Regardless of whether or not that's in Cuban Years, it's very old for a guy who hasn't shown he can pitch effectively at any full season level. The Pirates will probably try him somewhere in class A if he's able to pitch.

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