MLB Rumors: Padres withdraw contract offer for prospect who allegedly falsified age | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

The San Diego Padres rescinded a verbal agreement with a prospect from the Dominican Republic after discovering he claimed to be five years older than his actual age, Jorge Castillo and Alden Gonzalez reported for ESPN.

The prospect, who took the name Cesar Altagracia, was believed to be 14 years old. According to Castillo and Gonzalez, he agreed to sign with the Padres for $4 million once he became eligible for international free agency in 2027.

MLB then learned that Altagracia is a 19-year-old who previously represented the Dominican Republic in youth tournaments under a “false identity,” Castillo and Gonzalez reported.

According to Castillo and Gonzalez, in the past year, MLB has seen an “increase in high-profile players showing themselves with forged birth certificates to present themselves as as much as five years younger.”

That reported increase could include a potential New York Mets outfielder from the Dominican Republic, who was reportedly suspended in April for falsifying his identity and age, according to Metsmerized’s Mike Mayer.

The prospect, who went by the name Anthony Baptist, was signed for $1.1 million in 2023 at a reported age of 17.

It is common for players to be suspended for a year if it is found that they lie about their age, Castillo and Gonzalez report.

The Athletic’s Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal reported in January that MLB executives and agents believe “age and identity fraud among amateur baseball players in the Dominican Republic… is on the rise again” ahead of the 2024 season.

An MLB official told Drellich and Rosenthal that the league had “not seen any material statistical change in those numbers in recent years,” but reporters from The Athletic noted that those numbers would not include verbal agreements made with prospects moving to are said to be too young to sign. a team.

According to Drellich and Rosenthal, the Mets as well as the Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics were among the teams that had “recently” discovered that an international prospect they were talking to had falsified their age.

According to Drellich and Rosenthal, “several” of these players were eligible for bonuses of more than $1 million, an amount they might not have been able to secure as older players.

As Drellich and Rosenthal wrote in January:

“The league conducts background checks on international amateurs in all countries through its Age and Identity Investigation Department, which was established more than a decade ago. But the league doesn’t investigate players who are more than a year away from being eligible for a contract. Some teams therefore hire their own private investigators to check the paperwork and backgrounds of younger players.”

The MLB previously considered implementing an international draft, but was unable to reach an agreement with the MLBPA prior to the signing of the new CBA in 2022.