MLB suspends prospect over false identity, age scheme

Major League Baseball has suspended a Dominican prospect after uncovering an age-fraud plot that included a fictitious death and gravesite tombstone, sources familiar with the investigation told ESPN. The player, who had been going by the name David Severino, is actually named Daury David Severino Damaso and is 16 years old, born on April 2, 2010.

According to sources, the caper began to unravel after the Cleveland Guardians agreed in December to a $2.8 million pre-deal with the switch-hitting infielder they knew as David Severino, believing him to be 13 or 14 years old with the deal set to finalize in 2029. But both his name and age were fake.

Sources said Francisco Nieves, Severino's trainer at the time, allegedly created the identity of David Severino Damaso in 2023, purportedly Daury's younger brother, with the approval of the player's parents. A fake, late-filed birth registration was made under that name showing a birthdate of Dec. 20, 2011, along with falsified medical and school records.

John Pereyra, a trainer who worked with Severino for two years leading up to the Guardians agreement, said he did not know about the false identity. "You have to have [guts] to do something like this," Pereyra said in Spanish. "That's movie stuff.

Severino's real age would have made him eligible for the class of 2027, but his suspension will force him to wait an extra year to enter the international amateur market and become eligible to sign. Pereyra, who eventually agreed to purchase the rights to Severino from Nieves for $20,000, still houses him at his academy and says he does not blame Severino or his parents, citing the desperation created by poverty in parts of the Dominican Republic.