Major League Baseball has suspended a Dominican prospect after discovering age fraud that included a fictitious death and gravesite tombstone. Back in December, the Cleveland Guardians made a $2.8 million deal with infielder David Severino, whose real name is Daury David Severino Damaso. After closer investigation, the MLB discovered that Severino’s handler used a fake birth certificate to create a new identity, falsified medical and school records, filed a fraudulent death certificate, and even created a gravesite on Severino’s behalf.
Severino, whose real age is 16, impressed scouts while competing against 12- and 13-year-olds, but speculation formed as the Dominican prospect failed to resemble his actual age.
“I had a scout tell me this Severino kid could really play,” a team executive on the international side said. “I went to see him and the first thing I thought was, ‘There’s no way this kid is the age he says he is,” Alden Gonzalez of ESPN reports.
“The face was older,” said another executive. “You could just tell he was older.”
John Pereyra, a trainer who once worked with Severino, chimed in as well.
“You have to have guts to do something like this. I’ve heard about false birth documents and stuff like that, but to put together what this guy did — that’s movie stuff. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that in the Dominican. In my life, I have never seen anything like that,” Pereyra said.
MLB officials and the Guardians’ president of operations have not commented on the case, as it is still unknown why the league decided to pursue the investigation.
Severino’s suspension will make him ineligible, as he has to wait another year to enter the international amateur market and attempt to sign with a team legally. The Guardians will not face any MLB discipline regarding the situation.
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