VIERA, Fla. (AP) -A top baseball prospect from the Dominican Republic who received a $1.4 million signing bonus from the Washington Nationals lied about his age and name in what team president Stan Kasten is calling “an elaborate scheme.”
In July 2006, the Nationals held a news conference to announce they signed a 16-year-old shortstop named Esmailyn “Smiley” Gonzalez. He wound up leading the rookie-level Gulf Coast League with a .343 average in 2008.
But while the Nationals have been listing his date of birth as Sept. 21, 1989 – which would make him 19 now – Kasten said Wednesday that a Major League Baseball investigation determined Gonzalez is actually Carlos David Alvarez Lugo, born in November 1985 – meaning he is really 23.
Kasten spoke after SI.com first reported the Gonzalez/Lugo issue.
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