FRIDAY: Carmona was released from court in the Dominican and asked for the forgiveness of fans, the U.S. government and the Indians, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN). It appears unlikely that the Indians will void Carmona's contract, but the right-hander has to get to the U.S. to get paid this year, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets.
THURSDAY, 3:25pm: The Indians issued the following statement regarding Carmona: “We were recently made aware of the situation that occurred today in the Dominican Republic and are currently in the process of gathering information,” GM Chris Antonetti said. “We are not prepared to make any additional comment at this time.”
2:23pm: Police in the Dominican Republic say Fausto Carmona's real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes tweets. Dionisio Soldevila of the AP tweets that Carmona is 31, not 28 and Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com tweets that the right-hander's chances of obtaining a visa quickly don't seem good. Yancen Pujols first tweeted news of the identity issues.
The Indians exercised Carmona's option after the season, so he'll earn $7MM in 2012. The ground ball pitcher posted a 5.25 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 188 2/3 innings in 2011. The Marlins placed Leo Nunez/Juan Carlos Oviedo on the restricted list because of issues related to his assumed name. It's not clear whether Carmona will be able to pitch in the U.S. by Opening Day.
Oh no….
BIG difference between 28 and 31 in terms of age.
No there’s not. The difference was substantial when he was a prospect, but it would not affect the amount of money he’s making this year.
Sure it will… or might… if I’m the Indians, I say “hey, we picked up the option for somebody named Fausto Carmona… I’m not paying somebody named Roberto Hernandez Heredia” (and frankly, I do think they could void the deal on the basis of false pretenses, invalid signature, etc.).
I’m sure they could. They should do just that.
31 is the new 28. You do know that right?
LITTLE difference between 28 and 31 in terms of pounds overweight.
Prince Fielder is living proof.
Carmona is no pixie either
wow
How does this keep happening???
Also, who decides on the name “Fausto”?
Teams are willing to gamble on a guy with talent, even if he’s 3-5 years older than he’s claiming, is using a fake name, or what have you.
Yea, especially our Phillies. If you are Latin, over 30, and available, Philadelphia has to be a stop on your tour.
Raul Ibanez, Dany(s) Baez and Jose Contreras highly recommend it.
Don’t get it.. Raul Ibanez is American..
But nonetheless old.
And you can’t forget Abraham Nunez
Why would they give him $7 mil anyway? He’s godawful!
I am utterly shocked. Wouldn’t surprise me if Pineda turns out to be at least 25, he already looks like a grown man
I dont mind if he is 25, at least we get our 6 years and by 31 he should still be a good pitcher, but i agree dude is huge lol
Now I don’t regret buying his shirt. Awesome.
I’m disappointed, but only because “Fausto Carmona” is one of the coolest names ever. I’ve always been a fan of his just because of the name. I don’t know how to take this.
Wow another one..
Is this going to be the new steroid suspicion? Instead of accusing players of PED’s, they will now be accused of being older than they are reported
This isn’t new.
It hasnt been widespread though. All of the sudden this offseason Albert Pujols, the greatest player of his generation, a first ballot hall of famer, is getting his age questioned? Nobody seemed to mind when he was 25
Well, it’d probably be more accurate to say that confirmation hasn’t been as widespread. I’d say the reason that suspicion is growing is because more people are being found out in it.
Right, the actual confirmation isnt as widespread as the suspicion. Same with steroid use.
Latin American players have been doing this since the 60s….they know their age has a big impact on how scouts assess them.
Yes, but most of them can’t really get away with it anymore. Venezuela, the Netherlands Antilles, Cuba, and Mexico all have reasonably good records-keeping. The DR just has bureaucratic officials who are either inept or corrupt.
Corrupt. No question about it.
I think that MLB has to do more to crack down on this. I would put in place a 50 day suspension on a player if this is discovered. The teams should already be able to void the contract, but the 50 days would be a penalty on the player as well as the team that did not do due diligence in background checking.
Calling this trade:
Clayton Richard to CLE for something
Well now he is still awful just older.
who is next? Albert Pujols is 35 and named Juan Rodriguez?
37*
Jose Alcantara
Danny Almonte
Ryan Seacrest
Dean Martin
Mike Danton – St. Louis Blues
I wonder how many Juan Rodriguez’s there are in the world…
According to White Pages.com, there are 9349 guys named Juan Rodriguez in the United States. That number seems small, then again, I’m a Nuyorican.
Wow
The problem I have is NOT the name, it’s that you CANNOT import to America under a fake name. I know actors and such have stage names, that’s not my point. Lying to the authorities is rules for being deported! Bye bye! And the team shouldn’t have to be responsible for paying players found to have fake names.
Does this mean MLB should transfer his rights to Toronto?
America doesnt stand for United States
Please learn the difference
Sure it does. Or at least it can, it’s all about the context.
“America” may be short for United States of America, it might be short for North America, it might be short for Central America, it might be short for South America — it might refer to the entirety of the region, basically the entire hemisphere, though that is not typical (it’s usually “Americas” at that point).In this context, it’s clear the original poster was referring to the US or he would not be referring to immigration laws and deportation.
If you can’t parse context or are mad that the term is often used to refer to the US, that’s sad for you. It certainly doesn’t change anything.
He entered Canada with the Indians on road trips presumably using a false name on his DR passport, so he may have similar immigration issues returning to Canada as he does now returning to the US.
Are the Authorities certain about this? It wasn’t some Wikipedia mix-up back at the “Home Office”? Why are the police involved? Was he “Jay-Walking” at the time?
Let see if he ends up “Blue Jay Walking”
The police are involved because the DR DOES actually investigate things like this (it’s either identity theft or it’s signing a contract under a false name), they just take forever to do it.
Hmmm.. might want to investigate on Coco Crisp.. Maybe they’ll find out he’s linked to a Kellog brand name
hahaahhahaha i love this
Guerilla marketing at its finest
Every time Milton Bradley threw a tantrum sales for Candyland and Connect 4 went through the roof.
his real name is covelli, coco is just a nickname
his real name is covelli, coco is just a nickname
YES! Now my Carmona shirt will be worth something!
The next one will be Jose Tabata, it will come out he’s 29 years old and real name is Benny “the jet” Rodriguez.
There is only one thing that can be said or done about this:
*facepalm*
A International Draft would take care of many of these problems.
yes all day.
Why would the draft eliminate anything, because they are drafted its impossible to fabricate their age anymore?
Perhaps he just didn’t want to be mistaken for Felix Heredia. Do you blame him?
His first and middle name will make me mistake him for former closer Roberto Hernandez. But that is much better than Felix Heredia.
Still baffled at the fact that these people can lie, suck at their job, and still ,not only get a raise ,but get paid the amount they do…7 mil for Fausto really? He sucks. if i suck at my job, lie about who i am..well lets just say i am heading over to the unemployment line.
Well “these people” are a lot like “those other people…” you know, the ones who can lie about taking steroids, get caught, get suspended/fined…and then come back to collect their multimillion dollar checks as if nothing ever happened? Yeah…those people.
So let’s keep things in perspective: baseball has a lot of hypocritical rules and policies — and they are hardly limited to Dominican players.
the whole “suck at their job” thing is where you kinda go askew. even a replacement-level mlb player is at the top 1% of the top 1% of people who ever pick up a bat or glove in their lifetime.
it’s a microcosm of a lot of what’s wrong in the difference between union labor and right-to-work labor, but that’s a whole different debate.
what’s next? manny ramirez is found out to be don juan injectia manboobia, and is really 51?
Hey MLBTR, is it possible to start an Assumed Name Tracker?
Good one.
Did you catch LarryDelucaNY’s hissy fit? Might be the first banning for throwing a temper tantrum. I know a few toddlers that would have been proud.
It’s correct to be skeptical of any player coming out of the dominican republic these days. I wonder if MLB is going to put more resources in place to prevent further occurances.
I think these players come here under different names because their reals names aren’t that cool. I mean Fausto Carmona and Leo Nunez? That kills Roberto Hernandez Heredia and Juan Carlos Oviedo
Jose Contreras is definitely 50
Ditto for Placido Polanco.
And Miguel Batista!
And Jamie Moyer!
I want to know how this impacts Bill James 2012 and RotoChamp projections for this guy.
The Cubs should consider investing some time in this and finding out if this would be a plausible tactic to get out of the Soriano contract.
block my comment because i said these people? as in referring to people that lie about their identity? makes sense.
One of my comments in Oliver Perez signs with Seattle post was blocked too I don’t know why.
I never liked this guy to begin with. He comes off as a dirty pitcher with a lousy attitude sometimes. Granted I don’t know the guy, but that’s from my point of view as a fan.
to me he just seemed over hyped he had two good years out of six, he is a four starter to me just my opinion
With all the censoring of comments…lol just wait till SOPA/PIPA goes through..wnt be able to say anything unless it is “Great signing God Bless!”
If my name wasn’t really Leonard Washington I would totally change it to Juan-Esteban Ignachio Montoya. Then I would try out for a Dominican summer league team dressed as Inigio Montoya from Princess Bride.
Try “Domingo Montoya.” It’s a little more obscure, but in the book it’s Inigo’s father’s name.
sorry but it would be Ignacio is you will have a name in spanish. Juan Esteban without the hypenation
Tim Tebow
Where does the Tribe go from here?
Hold out that Fausto, err Roberto, gets a visa and continues his mediocrity?
Cut him and spend his 7MM on a starter… but who is still available that’s worth that cash?
Cut him and swing a trade for a starter… but who could be a potential suitor?
Cut him and spend that money on first base via sign or trade and hope someone like Gomez, Huff, or McAllister can step up and perform?
There’s Edwin Jackson.
With the length and cash Boras is trying to get for Jackson makes him a “programental non-fit” here in Cleveland
With the length and cash Boras is trying to get for Jackson makes him a “programental non-fit” here in Cleveland
They could probably call the Rockies and acquire a guy from their pile of starters in a trade. At least that would provide the Indians an extra arm or two at the start of the year until “Carmona” gets all his identity issues sorted. Just guessing, but I’ll bet the Rockies would be interested in swapping one or two of their extra arms for Cord Phelps.
They could probably call the Rockies and acquire a guy from their pile of starters in a trade. At least that would provide the Indians an extra arm or two at the start of the year until “Carmona” gets all his identity issues sorted. Just guessing, but I’ll bet the Rockies would be interested in swapping one or two of their extra arms for Cord Phelps.
There’ll be legal ramifications to voiding his contract that whatever his name is will try and invoke. He’ll likely lose out, but it will tie things up for a while. Oswalt is the 1st name that comes to mind as a possible get for the Indians as a replacement.
so does this raise the going price of his baseball cards or what?
28, 31…What’s the big deal?
could be a huge difference. especially if we are talking about prospects.
Gold jacket…Green jacket…
Well, if you’re 16 instead of 19, it can make a pretty big difference with the amount of money you will get.
I don’t blame Carmona or anyone else for using a fake identity to escape poverty and get a future in America.
I’m sure there are quite a few of them with fake identities.
cespedes will have his own post like this in no time
I wonder if they mail his checks with the name Fausto Carmona after this? Good luck cashing them once he gets a visa and an ID with his real name
Yeah, I’m sure there’s no Carribbean bank willing to skirt the rules to handle his millions. Offshore banks are known for their ethics.
Bartolo Colon is really 31
New intro music for Carmona/Heredia: “That’s Not My Name” by the Ting Tings.
The Ramones’ “Carbona Not Glue” certainly isn’t appropriate anymore
mlb needs to step in and do something. I don’t know wether the indians care or not but they just picked up the option of a 31 year old and not a 28 year old, i think it should be made known to all players(so i dont come off as a racist)that if you lie about your name,age you run the risk of being fined and suspended for a year.
$10 says MLB is going for Al Albuquerque next.
Can any player from the Dominican Republic be trusted? This seems to happen way more often then it should
Id rather just keep it as Fausto Carmona…
Great another guy I have to learn a new name for.
All these players who violated Immigration Law and other laws should be ashamed of themselves for profitting millions of dollars based on willful and fraudulent identification.
His whole life is essentially one big lie.
I don’t know why teams can’t get out of contracts? Like he signed with a fake name his check is going to someone who doesn’t exist just say to bad so sad and kick him out of the league. I get that they wanna play but teams like the Indians who don’t have a tonne to spend get hurt by this crap. Thank god the Jays never traded for him
Breaking news: Albert Pujols is really Julio Inglesias Jr, and is 42 years old!
Please let Alfonso Soriano get busted for using an assumed name!
he’s really 19 apparently
If you’re going to use a fake name, why would you pick “Fausto”?
oh na na whats ma name???
MLBTR why are you still calling him Carmona in the updates?
Does this mean he’s going to get a new jersey, with a new name on the back if he stays with the Indians?