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WFAA Sports BLOG |
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July 2008
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The Oakland Athletics are changing the game of baseball, again. First it was Beane-Ball, for the thrift winning way of A's general manager Billy Beane. This time Beane is doing it by signing 16-year-old pitching prospect Michael Inoa with a $4.25 million bonus. The 6-foot-7 right-hander is considered the top prospect in The Dominican Republic and much of Latin America and is scheduled to play in the Dominican Summer League. "Michael has a chance to be a very special pitcher in the major leagues," Beane said. "Even at this early age, he is a very polished pitcher with three above-average pitches and a fluid delivery. We are very excited about this young man's potential and look forward to watching his growth, both personally and professionally, in the years to come." Needless to say at his press conference Inoa was happy. "I feel very, very happy because my dream to turn into a professional player has become reality," Inoa said. Make that very, very happy. It's a bold move, but it's also risky. At such a young age there is no way to tell if he'll ever see the majors. Still if Inoa turns into his Dominican idol Pedro Martinez then it's a gamble worth it. 2 CommentsLeave a comment |
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How young is too young? Are there any rules about this? In my opinion, why not just give the kid a couple years to be a kid. Most likely he'll only get better.
My first thought is do they have paper work to confirm he is indeed 16. 6'7 is a huge 16 year old. I'm sure he is more than likely 18 or so and dominating a league he shouldn't be playing in. I wouldn't pay that kind of money for a 20 year old phenom.
I agree with April if he is 16, which he is not, let the boy enjoy another few years of his youth before putting all of this on him, a 16 year old who is 6'7 surely knows nothing about his body, very little about life, maybe some about baseball and certainly nothing on how to deal with $4 million dollars!!