Inoa becomes a sign of the times - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

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Yahoo: Pasan: Inoa becomes a sign of the times
Published 7/3/2008 at BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog
Yahoo: Pasan: Inoa becomes a sign of the times Meet Jeff Pasan… ...his boy Inoa Oakland – low-revenue Oakland, immortalized in the book “Moneyball,” about winning with a scrimp-and-save payroll – signed a 16-year-old named Michel Inoa on Wednesday. Along with his $4.25 million bonus, Inoa got an Anglicized name, Michael, and a ticket to the Dominican Summer League, where he can add weight to his lithe 6-foot-7 frame, throw his 94-mph fastball, unleash his polished breaking ball and work on his changeup..... The meeting convinced Oakland to shatter signing-bonus records for ...

Odds and Ends: Yorman, Hamilton, Ng, Carrasco
Published 7/4/2008 by Tim Dierkes at MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com
Some odds and ends before you fire up the grill... According to Jeff Passan, 15 year-old Venezuelan center fielder Yorman Rodriguez may have already agreed to a deal with the Reds. MLB.com's Jim Molony notes that the Phillies' director of Major League scouting watched a recent Red Sox-Astros game. ...

Quick hits: 300, bad calls, Latin America, Herges, and A.J.
Published 7/5/2008 by noreply@blogger.com (Kujo) at Rockin' the Red
If it's the end of the week, you know it's Rockin' the Red quick hits. Happy belated 4th of July, everyone! First of all, congratulations to Albert Pujols on his 300th home run! Couldn't have been much longer than Mark McGwire's 62, but nobody cared how long it was then either. I was fortunate enough to be at the game last night, so I'll post some stadium celebrations next week. For now, know that it was an awesome affair, complete with a standing ovation, a curtain call, crying Cubs fans, and renewed hope in a 2-1 game. You can read more on Albert here and here. The umpire's strike zone. What happened? ...

Cards eye a prize from Latin pool
Published 7/8/2008 by Derrick Goold at Bird Land » Bird Land
TOWER GROVE — One of the players the Cardinals just signed from Latin America they found because they were looking at the same player as everyone else. On one of several trips to Venezuela for the Cardinals vice president of player development Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals held a private workout with shortstop Cesar Valera and outfielder Yorman Rodriguez. The former signed with the Cardinals last week. The latter is going to command what Luhnow expects is a record sum. “We have been in on him the entire time,” Luhnow said. “He has the same agent as Cesar. Some people think there is a ...