A wild new report claims that Major League Baseball has slapped a prospect out of the Dominican Republic with a suspension.
And why would that be?
Because of an alleged plot involving faking his identity and age, along with a death certificate complete with a faux tombstone.
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According to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, the Cleveland Guardians agreed to a pre-deal with David Severino, a player they believed was just 13 or 14 years old.
The deal was worth $2.9 million and set to kick in when the switch-hitting infielder turned 17 years old.
However, the report claims that Severino is actually about two years older than previously believed, and his identity had been falsified by his former trainer.
The player’s real name is Daury David Severino Damaso. It’s alleged that his former trainer, Francisco Nieves, created the identity of a player named David Severino Damaso under the pretense that it was the actual Daury David Severino Damaso’s younger brother.
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This was reportedly done with approval from his parents, and then a fake birth certificate and fake medical records were cooked up.
Then, two years after the phony birth certificate came into play, Gonzalez reports that a fake death certificate was made alleging that Daury had died of respiratory illness back in 2012.
To sell it even further, a fake tombstone was allegedly placed to keep the ruse going.
This meant Damaso was playing with 12- and 13-year-olds when, in reality, he should’ve been competing with older players.
Of course, an older kid will certainly stand out from a bunch of middle schoolers.
The suspension reportedly means that Damaso will have to wait an extra year before he is eligible to sign with a team as an international amateur.
The Guardians have told OutKick that they have no additional comments on the matter. Meanwhile, we have also reached out to Major League Baseball, but have yet to hear back.
What. A. Story.
This is one of those stories that will almost certainly be the basis for a movie or documentary in the next two to four years.
People have seen disputes about players’ ages in youth sports before, but allegations of tombstone shopping to further the ruse?
Yeah, you don’t see that every day.