2027 Padres international amateur signee under investigation for age fraud

Credit: AP Photo

The short URL of the present article is: https://www.eastvillagetimes.com/fijc
Spread the love
Credit: DSL Padres

The San Diego Padres international signing plans for 2027 took a hit with unwelcome news regarding a top signee.

Late on the evening of November 2, an MLB investigation’s results revealed that Dominican infielder Cesar Altagracia’s age was not what was initially reported.

The results revealed that Altagracia, who had verbally committed to signing with the Padres organization when he became eligible for amateur free agency in January 2027, is not the 14-year-old he is listed as.

Altagracia, per the report, is five years older than his camp has reported. He is, in fact, 19.

Per a report from ESPN’s Jorge Castillo and Alden Gonzalez, Altagracia has verbally committed to sign with the Padres for a reported four million dollars.

This number would make his signing bonus one of the highest given out by San Diego since the new international amateur free agent signing laws came into effect, falling just shy of the $4.2 million San Diego gave to Leodalis De Vries in 2024.

I'd like this amount to  

This sort of investigation has become more commonplace in the past two to three years and has been seen earlier this year as well. The Mets’ deal with infielder Raymel Ortiz fell through because he was older than reported, although an exact age was never reported. The Red Sox and Astros had a  combined five players who lied about their ages in 2024 as well, per reports from Bob Nightengale and a mass report from The Athletic.

Altagracia, 19, will likely serve a one-year suspension before being eligible to sign in 2026, at which time he will be 21 years old.

The length of the suspension is the standard for age fraud per MLB’s international amateur free agency rules. MLB and the Padres organization declined to comment when asked by ESPN, and the Dominican Baseball Federation is actively investigating the murky situation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *