Yonder Alonso could still be a Cane.

Alonso, a first-round pick whose contract negotiations with the Cincinnati Reds has have a snag, told The Miami Herald on Thursday he has signed up for fall classes at UM, and there is ''a 50-50 chance'' he will be playing first base next year for the Canes.

''Coming back is definitely an option I'm thinking about,'' said Alonso, 22, who hit .370 last season, with 24 home runs and 72 RBI and led UM to the College World Series.

``If we can't get this thing resolved, I'll be very happy to come back to Miami, break some records and go back to Omaha [Neb.] and finish the job. I always said if worse comes to worse, I'm going back to school.''

One of Alonso's advisors, Brian Peters, said recently that the Reds and Alonso were way off on figures, and that if contract negotiations weren't completed, Alonso would either return to UM or go to the Independent League, ''likely the latter.'' But another advisor, Mike Maulini, said the family prefers that Alonso return to school.

''If he's going to lose a year, he'd rather go back to school and finish his education,'' Maulini said. ``He still has a bitter taste in his mouth about what happened in Omaha and he knows the Canes still have a great pitching staff with Chris Hernandez and company. There's a lot to come back to.''

The deadline for major-league teams to sign draft picks is Aug. 15.

''I'm not frustrated at all,'' Alonso said. ``I just feel like I've done a good job and if I'm not going to go to Cincinnati, I would be very happy to finish my senior year.''

UM baseball coach Jim Morris said he hasn't spoken to Alonso in about week, but knew contract negotiations weren't going well.

''If it doesn't work out, I think we could fit him in our lineup,'' Morris said.

The Canes, who were ranked No. 1 in the country before being bounced at the College World Series, were decimated by the draft. Morris expected some damage, with the signings of Jemile Weeks, Carlos Gutierrez, Dennis Raben, Blake Tekotte and Enrique Garcia not a surprise. But outfielder Mark Sobolewski's signing was somewhat of a surprise, as was the signing of outfielder Adan Severino, who probably could have become a top-round pick in 2009.

''It's going to come down to the deadline of August 15th,'' Morris said. ``If they've talked to Yonder in the last day or two, I'm not sure what's happened. He's got different alternatives. He can sign. He can come back to school or go to that northern league like J.D. Drew did. A good decision would be to come back to school.

``A guy like that coming back would be a big boost for anybody. He was arguably the best hitter in college baseball.''

Although Morris admits he has been intrigued by how long negotiations have taken, he is not going to get too excited or anxious. Still, he knows how much fun Alonso had at UM and how much it hurt him when the Hurricanes lost in the College World Series.

''Guys have signed at 11:59 p.m. on that last day, so I try not to get my hopes up too much because so many things happen on that last day,'' Morris said. ``I don't know how many of the first rounders who have not signed yet, but I'm sure they're will be some that sign at the last minute. But we'd be more than OK if Yonder decided to come back.''

Herald sportswriter Clark Spencer contributed to this report.

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