Reds lose out on Inoa

According to Baseball America, stud Dominican amateur Michel Inoa will sign with the Athletics for a $4.25 million signing bonus.

The Yankees initially were the leader for Inoa, reportedly agreeing to terms with Inoa's Dominican buscon on a deal with a $2.7 million bonus. However, multiple sources have indicated that Katz was then brought into the deal and raised the signing bar to a minimum of $3.5 million. The Yankees reportedly dropped out at that point in principle over having had a deal struck and then taken away.

That left the Reds, suddenly a major player in Latin America after the signing of Juan Duran this spring for $2 million, and the Rangers, who have built a resume as a force in the region in the last three years, along with Oakland, which had fallen back of the pack in recent years internationally. The Athletics have scouted Inoa heavily, with Beane, player personnel director Billy Owens and scouting director Eric Kubota among those who have seen him pitch.

This really is too bad, as signing Inoa, Juan Duran and Yorman Rodriguez in the same year would have really been a coup. Oh well. It would have been nice to pick up another first-round equivalent, but nothing's a sure thing.