Yet another one bites the dust!

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mrchris74

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Mar 14, 2006
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I don't get it. Why do this just to look one year younger than he really is? Or did Juan Carlos Oviedo have something in his background that would prevent him from getting the sports visa?
 
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Berzin

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Nov 17, 2004
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mrchris74 said:
I don't get it. Why do this just to look one year younger than he really is?
Click to expand...

It all revolves around the meat market atmosphere that pervades baseball in the Dominican Republic. You have to be signed young to have any chance at the major leagues. Why it's that way in the DR as opposed to the United States, who knows.

Probably because in the US MLB can't treat prospects like cattle, and the fact that there are other systems in place where a young man can do something with his life, like attend college.
 
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Ringo

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Like this is something new? Been going on for years and talked about .... for years.
 
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mrchris74

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The age question isn't the issue. I don't see what benefit he gets out of being one year younger. Its not as though he was 25 and pitching in the little league world series.

However, it is the first case I've seen of a guy playing ball for 11 years under an assumed identity. Hell, the guy made over $3 mil on contracts that weren't valid because he isn't who he said he was. I haven't seen anything that indicates where he signed his first contract, but I wonder if he didn't enter the country illegally and use a phoney id when he signed.

At any rate, there's a sad family in Moca (or is it Jamao?) :(
 
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Ringo

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mrchris74 said:
The age question isn't the issue. I don't see what benefit he gets out of being one year younger. Its not as though he was 25 and pitching in the little league world series.

However, it is the first case I've seen of a guy playing ball for 11 years under an assumed identity. Hell, the guy made over $3 mil on contracts that weren't valid because he isn't who he said he was. I haven't seen anything that indicates where he signed his first contract, but I wonder if he didn't enter the country illegally and use a phoney id when he signed.

At any rate, there's a sad family in Moca (or is it Jamao?) :(
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"a sad family in Moca" after $3 M that he illegally got? You must be kidding. Like they didn't know and supported the whole thing.
 
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ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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For those who are asking for his head, his papers will be sorted out and he will continue to be paid millions. The reason? He has proved he can perform in the Majors. In the meantime, please continue lamenting he got 3 MM under his bag...
 
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mrchris74

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Mar 14, 2006
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I'm not "calling for his head", far from it. If he figured a way to help himself and his family, good for him. I only wonder what really happened here, because to me it doesn't look like the typical case of a guy fudging his age.

As for "his papers being sorted out," probably so, but then again Danny Almonte's father had his visa revoked and was later arrested in the DR for forging documents. Furthermore I suspect the US state dept is going to be a little annoyed/embarrassed by the whole affair, having given him work status and presumably allowing him to come and go for over a decade without knowing who he was.

He did have 36 saves this season, but his contract expires. If the Marlins or some other team wants him, you're right, palms will be greased, lawyers will get rich, and he will play. But if MLB decides he's not worth the trouble, he's finished.
 
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Frank the Tank

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May 12, 2005
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Well I have a feeling that UCIS will not look favorably upon this and he might have a very hard time getting a visa to play in the US next year. Hope he saved some of his millions.
 
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Farmer

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Dec 2, 2003
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Living in Kansas City where he played several years ago I'm surprised he only fudged one year. He's a baby-faced, tiny little guy and it took a major league uniform, glove and a 4 oz. ball to get him to 160 lbs. And I don't think any equipment manager ever found a ball cap that didn't rest on his ears.
 
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yacht chef

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Sep 13, 2009
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The age thing is about the amount of bones money thy get when thy are first descoverd . The Miami paper had a great story about him and how he took his best frends ID when he was 17.
 
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mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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