Big signing, little play

The Reds signing of Juan Duran, the 16-year-old outfielder, was a big deal. A much big deal than I thought Sunday. I knew something was up when they announced it. So I asked Wayne Krivsky about it.

"We signed him and we announced it," Krivsky said.

When I pointed out that in the time I've covered the club the Reds had never announced the signing of a Latin American player, Krivsky allowed that the Reds scouts really liked the kid. Well, turns out they reportedly like the kid to the tune of $2 million.

The reason the Reds announced was that Baseball America was going to write a story about it. Here's a (www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2008/265719) to the story.

My point here is if Krivsky had been a little more forthcoming with the significance of the the signing, it would have gotten much better play. And some very positive publicity for the club.

This is huge commitment from ownership. Signing bonuses for Latin American players have grown at a scary rate for clubs.

But this one signing says the Reds are going to be players in the Dominican. Krivsky is a much nicer guy that he sounds like in his quotes. But this is one time when his tighti-lipped policy cost his club some good publicity.