Red Sox Quietly Cut 21-Year-Old Infield Prospect

The Boston Red Sox are cutting ties with the young infielder after four seasons down in the minors.

Apr 29, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; A view of the Boston Red Sox logo and a field bag during batting practice before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The 2026 Major League Baseball season is here and in the lead-up to the new season, the Boston Red Sox had to make a handful of tough decisions.

Most involved the big league roster, like Connelly Early cracking the starting rotation and moving Johan Oviedo to the bullpen, or Andruw Monasterio winning the roster battle in camp to help as a utility man off the bench. Boston was also busy down in the minors. The Red Sox had to send guys to affiliates before the 2026 season began. For example, No. 4 prospect Kyson Witherspoon is beginning the season at High-A Greenville.

There have also been plenty of minor league roster cuts. For example, the Red Sox moved on from 23-year-old outfield prospect Juan Chacon. Also, the club released infielder Vladimir Asencio, who received the highest signing bonus of any international free agent Boston signed in 2024. The cuts have quietly continued and Boston also moved on from 21-year-old infielder Yohander Linarez after four seasons in Boston's farm system, per the official transaction log.

The Red Sox are moving on

May 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; A Boston Red Sox hat and glove sit in the dug out before a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Linarez wasn't a big-name prospect, by any means. He signed with the club for a $10,000 signing bonus, per SoxProspects.com. He played in the Dominican Summer League for Boston in 2022 and 2023 and was actually pretty solid. He was a .267 hitter in 2022 and a .272 hitter in 2023 and finished both seasons with a .317 on-base percentage. He has very little pop and only hit one homer across those two seasons, but was steady overall.

In 2024, he played in 35 games with the FCL Red Sox and took a step back and was a .206 hitter and his on-base percentage dropped to .267. He took a step forward in 2025 and was promoted to Class-A Salem, but couldn't fully get his footing there.

Unfortunately, it's a nature of the business. Each team is loaded with prospects all throughout organizations and sometimes this is what happens. Boston brought a guy in and for whatever reason, things just didn't work out. Hopefully, he's able to latch on with another organization down in the minors. He's still very young and is just 21 years old.

It's that time of the year. All of the excitement of Opening Day overshadows the fact that there are plenty of other decisions that also get done around this time of the year.