Major League Baseball has suspended a Dominican prospect tied to the Cleveland Guardians after an investigation found he falsified his age, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The player had been expected to sign with Cleveland in 2029, but that path has now been blown up by the findings. ESPN first reported Friday that the infielder had used falsified birth, medical and school records to make himself appear 13 or 14 years old, when his actual age was 17.
ESPN identified the player as David Severino and said his real name is Daury Severino Damaso. The report said his trainer at the time, Francisco Nieves, helped create a new identity in 2023. As part of that scheme, a fraudulent death certificate was filed for Damaso, claiming he died of a respiratory illness in 2012, and a fake tombstone was made in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
That false identity allowed Severino to present himself to MLB scouts as a much younger player than he really was. MLB’s punishment means he now has to wait an additional year before he can enter the international amateur market to sign with a team.
According to ESPN, Severino had agreed to a pre-deal with the Guardians for $2.8 million in December 2025. With his real age now exposed, there is little chance he will land a major signing bonus.
The case fits into a larger issue that has drawn increasing attention in recent years. The international amateur market has long been vulnerable to fraud, with money flowing to both players and trainers and creating incentives for deception.
Players cannot sign with clubs until they are 16, but teams are said to reach verbal agreements with prospects as young as 12. The source said this case, especially the fake tombstone, was “pretty extreme.”
It is not the first time this has happened. In 2012, the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona was arrested in the Dominican Republic while trying to renew his visa. He was found to be three years older than previously believed, with his real name revealed as Roberto Hernández Heredia, and he had been living under a false identity since signing with Cleveland in 2000.
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