Michel Ynoa (born September 24, 1991, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican-American pitcher who is commonly known as "Michael Inoa." Ynoa is signed with the Oakland Athletics for the amount of 4.25 million dollars, settling a new record for the A's organization after lefty pitcher Mark Mulder was signed for 3.2 million in 1998. Ynoa was named the "Number One" and the "crown jewel" in the "Best Latino Prospects of 2008. "^[1] Ynoa is said to be the most impressive Latin American player prospect since Felix Hernandez in 2002. "^[2]

He is only 18 years of age, he is 6 feet 7 inches, and weighs 210lbs (pounds), and two Major League Baseball teams (Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers) "reportedly offered Ynoa about $5 million."^[3] It was reported that Ynoa signed with Oakland not New York, who he had originally verbally agreed on a deal with, because of the better treatment of the Oakland staff, the management style of General Manager Billy Beane, and the better pitcher development record in Oakland.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Spelling of name

Michel Ynoa is the original spelling of Michael's name. His first name was anglicized to "Michael" after he signed with the Oakland Athletics in July 2008. ^[4] Although Michael's last name is more commonly spelled with an "I," as of February 2009, he will be using the original spelling "Ynoa." "According to A's director of player development Keith Lieppman, [Y]noa will start going by the original spelling of his last name, 'Ynoa.' Somewhere along the line, there was a mixup on the spelling, and the pitcher's name made its way into the public forum with an 'I.'" ^[5]

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