Carmona’s story too familiar
The strange case of Fausto Carmona morphing into a man named Roberto Hernandez Heredia isn’t really strange at all.
Baseball players from Caribbean nations often change their ages and sometimes their names. At least they used to.
After 9/11, the U.S. government began insisting that foreigners entering the country to accept jobs validate their identities with something more than sworn statements.
Indians fans will recall that former starter Bartolo Colon, like Carmona, a native of the Dominican Republic, suddenly aged two years (after he left the Indians). There have been dozens of players whose ages inched upward after the feds began cracking down on the decades-old scam.
The practice was particularly prevalent in the Dominican, where documentation was often lacking and buscones – pseudo agents who steer the careers of eager teenagers – provided the expertise and the resources to create the magic that turned 18-year-olds into 16-year-olds.
Youth is highly prized in Dominican baseball circles, because major-league franchises operate on the theory that it takes an extra year or two to assimilate disadvantaged, uneducated kids into American culture and teach them the necessary skills to play as professionals.
And so the buscones pointed scouts in the right direction (and still do). They also fed the players, gave money to their families and made certain that their “clients” became the desired age. They also took a piece of the kids’ signing bonuses – sometimes 40 to 50 percent – even though teams typically give most Dominican aspirants only a few thousand dollars. The buscones hoped they would hit the jackpot by representing that rare player whose bonus reached six or seven figures.
This is probably the path that was taken by 31-year-old Heredia, 28-year-old Carmona, the Indians starter who was arrested last week as he tried to renew his work visa at the American consulate in Santo Domingo.
No doubt, he had been Fausto Carmona for so long that he thought he would never get caught. It is curious that he came to the attention of Dominican police at this particular time and was charged with using a false name.
The change in attitude by the American government seemed to end the deception of transforming children with baseball skills into even younger teens. But for Heredia/Carmona, the heightened security measures were not in place when they signed their initial contracts, which probably is why they slipped through the cracks.
Carmona was signed Dec. 28, 2000, three weeks after he had presumably turned 17 (he was 20 if the Dominican authorities are correct). He played at the Indians facility in the Dominican in 2001 and traveled to the United States for his first minor-league season in 2002, before the enhanced identity measures were in place.
It’s doubtful that Heredia will have to rot in jail for long. His biggest problem probably will be trying to convince the immigration and naturalization people that he should be given another green card. Heredia could miss all or part of spring training, maybe even a chunk of the season. If that happens, it’s likely the Indians would dock his pay for time missed. Players are paid only for the regular season, and Heredia is due to receive $1.7 million per month beginning in April.
The Indians can end their ties to Heredia when his contract expires at the end of the season. Now that he is three years older, Heredia is even more likely to be jettisoned.
Eventually, the age discrepancy will cost him, but if Heredia wins 15 or more games and posts an ERA below 4.00 this year, he will be a sought-after free agent. General managers won’t care how old he is or what name he uses to sign his next contract.