Players' salaries jump

Baseball officials estimate that players from Latin America will gather bigger salaries.

An article from The Arizona Republic offers the example of Dominican Michael Inoa, who signed with Oakland Athletics for a $4.25 bonus last week.

Teams could spend more than $30 million on players from Latin America this year, one baseball official estimated.

The change is attributed to more teams scouting in the region and increased scouting budgets. New academies also signal more income.

"There's no doubt: It's changing," Oakland Assistant General Manager David Forst said. "I don't think you see the A's as a player for a talent of this caliber a few years ago, but in order to compete and in order to maintain the health of our farm system, you have to be financially competitive in Latin America."

Expensive players include Enrique Burgos, a Panamanian who got a $295,000 bonus Rossmel Perez and Jose Jose also received bonuses above $100,000.

Source: The Arizona Republic, Photo: Inoa, Scout.com