From Melissa Segura (SI):
A top New York Yankees prospect is not who he claims to be, sources tell SI.com. Two weeks ago, the Yankees signed a shortstop purporting to be 16-year-old Damian Arredondo
Blancaflor, la hija del diablo download Amazing Journeys release from the Dominican Republic to an $850,000 bonus. Now Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations has determined that Arredondo is not the player’s real name and that he is older than 16.
The Yankees signed the player they thought was Arredondo on July 2, the first day that major league teams are permitted to sign international free agents as young as 16. The Yankees were impressed with the switch-hitter’s strong arm and speed — he reportedly ran a 60-yard-dash in 6.4 seconds.
According to a new Major League Baseball rule, a player found to have used a fraudulent identity or to have misrepresented his age cannot sign with another club for one year. Major League Baseball has recently increased its efforts to deter identity fraud in Latin America by hiring new investigators and dispatching other investigators from its New York City office to oversee the process.
In general, sources say that MLB will be working with authorities in the Dominican Republic to bring criminal charges against the orchestrators of fraud — often the trainers and agents who stand to make large percentages of the prospects’ signing bonuses.
Man-Thing buy Mark Newman, the Yankees Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations, says that he has not received official notification of the outcome of the Arredondo investigation. The Yankees did not lose any money on the prospect because his bonus was contingent on the outcome of the investigation. Newman expressed gratitude that the investigative process was swift, allowing the team time to continue searching for prospects among the pool of free agents who have not yet been signed.
Nice work by the MLB here. Not sure what the next step is for the Yankees or how much the Arredondo “deal” may have hindered them from picking up other FA’s, but we’ll definitely have more on this story as it develops.
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5 Responses to No deal for "Arredondo"
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TIQ IQ
This is maddening. Hopefully the money can go to Sano now or Ferreira.
That would seem to make sense. We thought we had our SS, and now we don’t. That would seem to change things with the Yankee’s thinking.
On to Sano.
I would love to say I’m shocked but it’s Latin America and age no one knows how old they are! Anyone know El Duque’s real age? No one ever will! I bet Albert Pujols isn’t 29 dude is probably 32 that is just the risk you take when you sign a guy from another country where birth records aren’t the best kept and being a little younger can mean the difference in helping your family and not.
I agree with Chris… Can you blame them, if they 18 or 20 rather then 16 it means instead of a bonus of say 500,000 they looking at 50,000 or less.
So they all take the risk of not getting caught, can’t blame them, the problem is MLB who used to not care and would just sign people then if age became different would bitch… same stance was with steroids, they didn’t care until congress complained then suddenly MLB is like oh steroids are bad.
I agreed, if I were one of these guys, I’d lie about my age and identity in a heartbeat