Historically, baseball players have lied about their age in order to deceive recruiters and, ultimately, receive better contract offers to make the jump to the MLB, for example.
There is a significant physical advantage to appearing younger.
The San Diego Padres just avoided a particularly compelling case of age fraud a few days ago.
According to information obtained by ESPN, San Diego had offered a contract to young prospect Cesar Altagracia from the Dominican Republic.
With documentation provided to recruiters and officials in his region, Altagracia was listed as a 14-year-old youth player. As a result, he was one of the best prospects in the Dominican Republic and despite his young age, the Padres wanted to secure his services and add him to their prospect bank.
With an offer of $4 million on the table, San Diego thought it had smelled a good deal.
But no, in the end, there was something fishy going on.
The infielder, who represented his country at the U12s in 2022 and the U15s last summer, would actually be 19 years old. Not only did Altagracia allegedly lie about his age, but he also falsified his identity with a different name.
Being five years younger is still extreme in this kind of situation,
Fortunately for San Diego, the contract was not finalized and they will be able to use their international allocations in other ways.
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