International signings?!?

Maybe the A's are stealing headlines with their ridiculous $4.25 million signing bonus for a teenager from the Dominican, but it looks like the Pirates are actually closing in on signing a pretty good Latin American prospect themselves. From the PG:

They were negotiating yesterday on the final details of a signing bonus for Jonathan Barrios, a 16-year-old shortstop out of Colombia who made the final top-25 lists of two publications. Barrios was the star talent at an academy in his homeland called Prospect Sport, owned and operated by Chicago White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

"We feel pretty good about getting it done," general manager Neal Huntington said yesterday of signing Barrios.

I don't really think that top-25 lists of teenagers are the best thing in the world, but hey, at least it's something.