FanHouse MichaelInoa

Oakland Athletics pitcher Justin Duchscherer had always been a valuable player for the A's coming out of the bullpen, even making the All Star team in 2005 as it's lone representative, but now that he's made the transition to starting he'd like to cash in on some of that value. Justin leads all of baseball with his 1.96 ERA, and his pitching this season is a big reason why the A's are so successful this season.

So, if you're reading, Billy Beane, your boy would like to talk new contract.

"I mentioned to my agent (Dan Horwits) that I'd like him to talk to Billy," Duchscherer said. "I like it in Oakland. I'd like to stay here. It's not up to me, but I would like to get three years."

It's hard to blame Duchscherer for wanting a new deal at this point. He's 30 years old now, and has been playing professional baseball since he was 18 and he's never had a contract longer than a year. I'm sure some security would be nice for him.

Justin also pointed out that 16-year old Michael Inoa--recently signed by Oakland--has already made more money in his signing bonus than Justin has in his entire career. Beane has been told of Duchscherer's desire to talk deal, and said that if he continues to pitch like he has so far then "it's probably something we could pursue."

In recent weeks there had been plenty of teams who were interested in the services of 16-year old Dominican pitcher Michael Inoa. The 6'7 prospect has had scout salivating for a while now, and organizations were lining up for the chance to add him to their team. Well, when it was all said and done and Inoa was allowed to sign with somebody, he ended up choosing the Oakland Athletics.

As details came out about the signing, other teams (like the Rangers and Reds) found out that even though they offered Inoa more money, he still chose the Athletics over them. This didn't make sense to these other teams, so in their minds, the only logical explanation is that Oakland cheated and signed Inoa before the deadline. Now it looks like MLB will be taking a look into the deal.

Adam Katz, Inoa's agent, would not discuss the offer from Texas (or a reportedly larger offer from Cincinnati), but he said the A's did not sign Inoa until the 12:01 a.m. EDT deadline Wednesday.

"There was no contract before the deadline," Katz told The Chronicle on Sunday. "Absolutely not. Billy (Beane) and the team followed all the rules carefully. Billy and I were both very aware how high profile (Inoa) is."

Personally, I don't think Oakland did anything wrong here. I mean, maybe Inoa and his agent chose a smaller offer from the A's because they've seen the success Oakland has had in developing young pitchers. You know, guys like Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito (he used to be good Giants fans, I swear), Dan Haren, and now Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer.

Needless to say, the Rangers and Reds don't have the same kind of history. Well, the Rangers can develop good pitching, they just trade it all away before it's ready for the bigs. Just ask John Danks and Edinson Volquez.