A Cleveland Guardians minor leaguer has been suspended over an elaborate age hoax that involved a fraudulent identity and even a fake death.
The Guardians agreed to a preliminary $2.8 million deal with a top Dominican prospect named David Severino last December. The organization was under the belief that Severino was 13 or 14 years old, and the deal would ultimately be finalized once he turned 17.
Severino’s real name is Daury David Severino Damaso, and his real age is 16, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN. Severino posed as Daury’s younger brother at the behest of a trainer and with the knowledge of his parents.
To legitimize the fake identity, Severino’s camp obtained a fake birth certificate and falsified medical and school records. There was even a fake death certificate for Daury, along with a fake tombstone that was placed in a Dominican graveyard.
Severino stood to make more money if teams believed he was 13 or 14. He was dominant against other players that age, when in reality he should have been playing against 16- and 17-year-olds, where he would not have looked as impressive.
Severino is not the first minor leaguer to be implicated in an age-related scandal like this. In fact, it has somehow happened to the Cleveland organization before, though in that instance the ruse was kept up far longer than this one was.
