Sources: MLB suspends prospect over false identity, age plot - ESPN

Major League Baseball has suspended a once-prized Dominican prospect after uncovering an elaborate age-fraud plot that included a fictitious death and gravesite tombstone, sources familiar with the investigation told ESPN.

The MLB investigation uncovered a series of extreme efforts by the player's handler to make him appear nearly two years younger than he actually is, including faking a birth certificate to create a new identity, falsifying medical and school records, filing a fraudulent death certificate and even creating the gravesite scene, according to sources.

The caper began to unravel shortly after the Cleveland Guardians agreed in December to a $2.8 million pre-deal with a switch-hitting infielder going by the name of David Severino. The Guardians thought he was 13 or 14 years old and that the deal would be finalized in 2029, by which point Severino would be 17 and eligible to sign.

But Severino's name and age were both fake.

Severino's real name is Daury David Severino Damaso, according to sources. He is actually 16 years old, born on April 2, 2010. In 2023, sources familiar with the investigation said, Francisco Nieves, Severino's trainer at the time, allegedly created the identity of David Severino Damaso, who was purportedly Daury's younger brother, with the approval of the player's parents. A fake, late-filed birth registration was made under that name showing a birthdate of Dec. 20, 2011. Falsified medical and school records were also allegedly taken out under David's name.

From that point on, Daury Severino Damaso became David Severino Damaso.

Two years after the birth registration had been made, according to sources, a fraudulent death certificate was filed for Daury. It said he had died of a respiratory