San Diego Padres Pull Deal From Prospect After MLB Uncovered Falsified Age

Cesar Altagracia had a verbal agreement to sign with the San Diego Padres for roughly $4 million, but MLB discovered that the Dominican Republic prospect who said he was 14 years old was actually 19.

May 24, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Diego Padres hats in the dugout during the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. / Brad Mills-Imagn Images

One of the top teenage prospects out of the Dominican Republic will not be signing with the San Diego Padres after all, ESPN's Jorge Castillo and Alden Gonzalez reported Saturday night.

MLB recently completed an investigation into Cesar Altagarcia, uncovering that he had falsified his paperwork and lied about his age. Teams were led to believe that Altagarcia was 14 years old, but he is actually 19.

Altagarcia had a verbal agreement to join the Padres, who were going to give him a signing bonus of roughly $4 million. He was unable to put pen to paper until he became officially eligible in January 2027, though, when he would presumably be 16 years old.

Instead, the Padres have withdrawn their offer from Altagarcia, per ESPN. Altagarcia may not be able to find another landing spot in the immediate future, either, since players who lie about their age are typically suspended and not allowed reapply for a full year.

This is a big, big deal. As Jorge and Alden report, age fraud among international amateurs remains an issue. And this case is particularly egregious. A player who said he was 14 years old was actually 19. https://t.co/n3oCE2a77j

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 3, 2024

The 6-foot middle infielder played for the Dominican Republic at the U-12 Baseball World Cup in 2022, at which point he was actually 17 years old. He hit .455 with a 1.071 OPS in that tournament, racking up one home run, seven RBI, eight runs and 10 stolen bases across eight games of action.

Altagarcia also appeared at the U-15 Pan American Championships this summer.

There has yet to be a punishment handed down to Altagarcia, who may have been using a falsified name as well. The Padres, meanwhile, will look to spend their international free agent budget for the 2027 cycle elsewhere.

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