Dominican prodigy nets record bonus

Baseball analysts the world over are buzzing over the the signing of Michael Inoa, the 16 year-old, 6'7''pitching prodigy from the north coast of the Dominican Republic to a MLB contract with a signing bonus worth $4.25 million - the largest ever on the island and anywhere in the world not in the United States or Cuba.

The Oakland Athletics, canonized as notoriously shrewd and stingy in the 2003 Michael Lewis book "Moneyball," signed Inoa this week after Athletics' GM Billy Beane - known for seldom travelling to scout talent himself - made 3 trips in less than 2 months to Puerto Plata, including last week when he brought the A's co-owners to meet with Inoa directly.

"You run out of superlatives," Beane told an interviewer from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. "This is an exciting day for us, a very exciting day. We feel Michael is one of the best prospects to come out in the last decade."

The SF Chronicle noted that "until now, Inoa has been known by his given name, Michel, but the A's have encouraged him to use 'Michael,' and he told The Chronicle that is OK with him."


Sources: Santa Rosa Press Democract, MLB.com, San Francisco Chronicle