A prospect who had a big deal with the San Diego Padres is reportedly not who he says he is.
An MLB investigation found that top Dominican teenage prospect Cesar Altagracia falsified his paperwork and is actually 19 years old, not 14 as he previously claimed, according to ESPN.
The teenager reportedly had a verbal agreement to sign with the Padres as an international free agent for approximately $4 million once he became eligible in January 2027, when he would reportedly be 16 years old.
That figure indicates that he was viewed as one of the top prospects in his class. Only three players in this year’s cycle signed for more than 4 million dollars. The man also performed well as a member of the Dominican Republic team at the 2022 U-12 Baseball World Cup and the U-15 Pan American Championship, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler, who posted videos of him making hard contact in June.
Cases like this are unprecedented in the Dominican Republic, where teams often scoop up kids long before their supposed free agency and place them in academies while they wait for promised deals that may or may not be fulfilled. It’s a system where corruption and subterfuge are common, mostly at the expense of the players.
There was a similar incident in 2009, when a supposedly 19-year-old Washington Nationals prospect named Esmailyn “Smiley” González turned out to be 23-year-old Carlos Álvarez Daniel Lugo. Unfortunately for the Nationals, this was after he received his $1.4 million bonus. The revelation precipitated the downfall of Nationals manager Jim Bowden, who was also investigated for diverting money from international signings.
There was also Danny Almonte, a Dominican-born Little League World Series star who turned out to be two years older than his parents claimed.
In Altagracia’s case, ESPN notes that MLB often suspends players who have falsified their age for a year before they are allowed to apply for reinstatement.
