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3 Rays join aging trend

Tighter entry procedures after Sept. 11 have revealed more than 30 age discrepancies. Esteban Yan gets younger.

By MARC TOPKIN and KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times
published March 1, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- If Jesus Colome looks a little more mature on the mound this season, there is a reason. Colome is one of several top young prospects who the Rays found out aren't so young after all.

As a product of the U.S. government's increased scrutiny of age and identification documents, the Rays learned Thursday their hard-throwing reliever is 24 rather than 21 as they had thought.

They also found out infielder Wilmy Caceres, acquired in a December trade from Anaheim, is 28 instead of 23 and infielder Ramon Soler, one of their most-talented prospects, is 24 instead of 20.

Closer Esteban Yan, in an adjustment sure to make him the envy of many, turned out to be a year younger, going from 27 to 26.

Discrepancies are surfacing throughout the major leagues as a result of an intensified post-Sept. 11 effort by the U.S. government to know exactly who is coming into the country.

Because of years of reported abuse, as well as the Danny Almonte-Little League controversy, attention has been focused on players from the Dominican Republic, who, in some cases for the first time, are being required to produce original birth certificates. More than 30 players have had their ages adjusted.

"Many teams in baseball have been affected by this," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said. "Through the years if you scout Latin America, especially the Dominican Republic, it's been very hard to get to the bottom of what dates are truly accurate or not."

Players in the Dominican Republic and some other countries occasionally will supply inaccurate birth dates to improve their chances of getting signed and staying in professional baseball.

Because players from foreign countries can't be signed until they are 16 or 17 (depending on their date of birth), some, such as Yan, will say they are older than they really are.

"I knew I was younger, but I wanted to play, so I had to be one year older," Yan said.

Others, such as Colome and Caceres, say they are younger to draw interest from scouts who generally have no use for older prospects and so that once signed, they will be given more time to develop.

"I wanted to play and it was the only way I could do it," Caceres said through an interpreter.

LaMar said the Rays won't take any action against the players or evaluate them any differently.

But he acknowledged the progress of the minor-leaguers will be watched more closely. Pitcher Enger Veras, whose arrival has been delayed by visa complications, is likely to have his age adjusted, and numerous players on minor-league contracts probably will as well.

"If there's a concern, it's a concern with the younger minor-league players than the major-leaguers," LaMar said. "With the major-leaguers, if they can produce and do what they can do on the field, then let's go. But for the young prospects like Soler, like Veras, we're still going to evaluate them strictly on ability and we're not going to hold this against them in any way, but it's different being a player projected to be at the Double-A level at 20 or 21 vs. 24 or 25."

Manager Hal McRae, who admitted near the end of his 18-plus season career that he had adjusted his age to appear one year younger, said the discrepancies made no difference to him.

"If they can play," McRae said, "it doesn't matter how old they are."

Colome came to the Rays from Oakland in July 2000 with controversy about his age. The A's media guide listed his birth date as June 2, 1980, but Baseball America's Super Register listed it as March 23, 1979, a date Colome confirmed to Oakland reporters. MLB notified the Rays Colome's birth date is Dec. 23, 1977.

"To sign they told me to do that," Colome said. "I'm okay. I feel the same. I know my age."

Said LaMar: "I'll take Jesus Colome. That 100 mph is just as hard to hit at 24 as it is at 22."

Yan said he was glad to have his situation clarified.

"I wanted to get my paperwork back to normal," Yan said. "Everything changed (after Sept. 11). That's why I tried to make everything correct. ... For me to be younger is better. So if I was going to play 11 years, I could now play 12. That's simple."

Still, Yan took some good-natured ribbing from teammates over actually getting younger.

"I know a lot of people will be surprised because they probably think I'm about 31 or 32," he said.

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