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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

WaPo: Stan Kasten and the Player to Be Named Later

“I’ve known about this coming for the last couple weeks, I got a heads-up a few weeks ago. I received confirmation from MLB yesterday formally that the player that we thought was Esmailyn Gonzalez was not, he has some other name. And I’m not exactly sure how to refer to him so for now I’ll just call him The Player To Be Named Later. But his birthday is November 1985, and he’s not Esmailyn Gonzalez, 19, he’s someone else. I think he will go by Carlos Alvarez, but I’m not sure, and he’s 23.

“To say I’m disappointed doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. I’m angry. I am very angry. We’ve been defrauded. And make no mistake, this wasn’t a college kid with a fake ID to come in and do this. This was a deliberate, premeditated fraud with a lot more to this story, and we are gonna get to the bottom of it. There were many many people involved in this premeditated fraud....

“Now this is very important, you need to know this, this was not a teenager who walks in with his college ID and lays his card on the table and signs a contract. This was an elaborate, premeditated scheme no teenager concocted, and no teenager executed this fraud. There were a number of people involved in it. When you guys learn--you won’t today, but soon you will--when you learn the length to which these participants went to perpetrate this fraud, you’re gonna be amazed. Falsified hospital documents, falsified school documents, other family members changing their identities, bribes were paid, really elaborate stuff....I can assure you, this is gonna have serious repercussions. I have people examining all possible avenues of recourse, with regard to any legal and financial concerns.”

Tripon Posted: February 18, 2009 at 06:55 PM | 14 comment(s)
  Related News: GeneralBusinessMediaInternationalMinor LeaguesProspect ReportsScoutingSpecial TopicsWashington

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   1. Tripon  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 06:59 PM (#3080676)
   2. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 07:16 PM (#3080686)
Reading between the lines here, Kasten seems to be laying this at Bowden's feet, saying that he came to him with this deal set to go. Sh*t rolls downhill, baby!
   3. Cuban X Senators  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 07:30 PM (#3080693)
Ok, when you sign a 16 year old with 32 teeth, can you really complain?
   4. Shagrat  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 08:07 PM (#3080714)
I can't believe immigration would let this ####### back in the country after he entered using a false ID. What kind of message is that sending - even if you're caught lying and participating in fraud your welcome to come to the US if you can play ball?
   5. TerpNats  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 08:23 PM (#3080724)
Kasten may now have the smoking gun he needs to get rid of Bowden. Hallelujah!

(Although this won't make signing Strasburg any easier, will it?)
   6. StillFlash  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 09:28 PM (#3080787)
Bowden might not have been in on the conspiracy, but that doesn't mean he gets to keep his job. I think it's more likely that this was executed by the Dominicans involved, to get their share of the bonus money.
   7. rfloh  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 09:48 PM (#3080803)
Kasten,

And this is important -- all the MLB procedures were followed. MLB undertakes the responsibility to verify ages and names. After 9/11 they set up an office in the Dominican Republic to do all that.


We got verification from the MLB people that this was his name and this was his age.


and so I went back to baseball and I asked for their help... So we're talking now 2007, and I said, 'I want to get to the bottom of this.'

And, you know, they came back to me and said we've checked it out and the nearest we can figure, everything is in order


Unless Bowden was in on the conspiracy, I'm not sure how much he can be blamed for this.
   8. Joey B.  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 10:04 PM (#3080820)
Maybe this guy is A-Rod's cousin.
   9. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 10:06 PM (#3080821)
Let me give you some background on all of this... We were awarded the team in early May [2006], and really soon thereafter, within maybe two weeks or three weeks, right in the early stage of the transition, we did not yet own the team, Jim [Bowden] came to me and said his staff had seen this kid, they thought he was special, they thought he would command a premier bonus, and what was our appetite for that. And, obviously none of us had ever seen the kid or heard of the kid. But he described him, the staff described him, and we said, 'Yeah, we want to be aggressive, we'd back you on something like that if that's what everyone feels like.

That reads like a greasing of the skids to me.
   10. Dayton Moore is a Big Fat Idiot (AG#1F)  Posted: February 18, 2009 at 10:16 PM (#3080832)
Were the Nats the only team duped by him or was he pursued by others?
   11. Tripon  Posted: February 19, 2009 at 01:50 AM (#3080972)
Were the Nats the only team duped by him or was he pursued by others?

The Rangers apprently offered $700,000.
   12. JMN Is Convinced He Has H1N1 Every Time He Coughs  Posted: February 19, 2009 at 02:40 AM (#3080986)
Although this won't make signing Strasburg any easier, will it?


It turns out his name is really Dennis Mayhew, and he's actually in a PhD program at Bemidji State.
   13. Brian Oliver  Posted: February 19, 2009 at 05:42 AM (#3080999)
The Rangers apprently offered $700,000.


The Rangers dealt with his agent (Rob Plummer IIRC) as did every other team in on him. Every other team other than the Nationals. The Nationals dealt directly with his buscon (Basilo Vizcaino), a childhood friend of Nationals employee Jose Rijo. And the Nationals offered twice as much as their nearest competitor.
   14. The Yankee Clapper  Posted: February 19, 2009 at 01:44 PM (#3081301)
Sorting out who was duped, bribed or actually in on the conspiracy may be a major undertaking, although any of the three might be reason enough to be fired. Some folks could go to jail but there might be issues about extraditing anyone from the Dominican Republic. I doubt the Nationals are the only team that's been had by some version of an inflated scouting report and lowered age.
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