'Million Dollar Arms' Worth Way More

On Monday, Nov. 24th, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates made their best baseball decision since plucking Roberto Clemente from the Brooklyn Dodgers in the Rule Five Draft in 1954. And it might turn out to be even better. In an unprecedented act of progressivism, the Buccos became the first MLB team ever to sign an Indian-born player. In fact, it is the first time in history an Indian-born player has signed a professional sports contract outside their home country. And it gets better. There's two of them. Dinesh Patel (a 20-year-old righty) and Rinku Singh (a 19-year-old lefty) were rewarded for their prospect-like performances in India's first 'Million Dollar Arm' challenge and their ensuing training with invitations to this year's Minor League Spring Training. Though neither projects to be a future Hall-of-Famer, the two reportedly have some respectable stuff: "the 6-foot-2 Singh throws 89-90 mph and has a split-finger changeup pitch, [while] the 5-foot-11 Patel throws a circle change and ... (link)