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The San Diego Padres withdrew a verbal settlement with a prospect from the Dominican Republic after discovering he had claimed to be 5 years older than his true age, Jorge Castillo and Alden Gonzalez reported for ESPN.
The prospect, who assumed the identify Cesar Altagracia, was believed to be 14 years previous. He agreed to signal with the Padres for $4 million as soon as he was eligible for worldwide free company in 2027, in keeping with Castillo and Gonzalez.
The MLB then realized that Altagracia is a 19-year-old, who has beforehand represented the Dominican Republic in youth tournaments beneath a “false identification,” Castillo and Gonzalez reported.
In accordance with Castillo and Gonzalez, the MLB has seen an “uptick in high-profile gamers showcasing themselves with falsified delivery certificates to current themselves as a lot as 5 years youthful” over the previous yr.
That reported enhance may embrace a New York Mets’ outfielder prospect from the Dominican Republic, who was reportedly suspended in April for falsifying his identification and age, in keeping with Mike Mayer of Metsmerized.
The prospect, who glided by Anthony Baptist, was signed for $1.1 million at a reported age of 17 in 2023.
It’s typical for gamers to be suspended for one yr if they’re discovered to be mendacity about their age, Castillo and Gonzalez reported.
The Athletic’s Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal reported in January that MLB executives and brokers consider that “age and identification fraud amongst novice baseball gamers within the Dominican Republic… is on the rise once more” forward of the 2024 season.
An MLB official instructed Drellich and Rosenthal that the league had “not seen any materials statistical change in these numbers during the last a number of years,” however The Athletic reporters famous that these numbers wouldn’t encapsulate verbal agreements made with prospects allegedly too younger to signal with a workforce.
In accordance with Drellich and Rosenthal, the Mets in addition to the Houston Astros, Kansas Metropolis Royals, Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics have been amongst groups who had “not too long ago” found a world prospect they have been in talks with had falsified their age.
Per Drellich and Rosenthal, “a number of” of those gamers have been in line for bonuses of over $1 million, an quantity they won’t have been capable of internet as older prospects.
As Drellich and Rosenthal wrote in January:
“The league does background checks on worldwide amateurs throughout all nations by way of its Age and Id Investigation division, which was put in place over a decade in the past. However the league doesn’t vet gamers who’re greater than a yr away from being eligible to be signed. Some groups subsequently rent their very own non-public investigators to test paperwork and backgrounds of youthful gamers.”
MLB has beforehand thought of implementing a world draft, however was unable to succeed in an settlement with the MLBPA forward of the signing of the brand new CBA in 2022.
