Dominican prospect Andres Serrano contract terminated by MLB for age and identity fraud

Another day, another Dominican prospect busted for age and identity fraud. Dominican pitching prospect Andres Serrano had his deal with the Cardinals terminated by MLB due to age and identity fraud. It would have been the biggest deal for an international free agent pitcher for all signings last year.

Serrano claimed to have been born on May 29, 1994 date of birth, which would have made him 17 at the time of his signing and 18 now. Presumably he was actually older than he claimed and that's when MLB had to come in and terminate the contract. Though MLB did not release how old they think he may be.

This debacle ends up hurting Dominican prospect Andres Serrao. MLB declared Serrano ineligible to sign for one year, as of June 26, but under the new collective bargaining agreement the period from June 16-July 1 is a "closed" period when teams can't sign international free agents. His signing will not be able to come until July 2, 2013 and it will count towards the 2013-14 signing period.

So, to make a long story short, the Cardinals may not be in the running to sign him at that point. The new collective bargaining agreement gives teams spending limits and penalties in regards to international free agents, based on where they finish in the standings. Even if these new rules were not in play, lets be honest, even a big league club that has everything planned to the last detail may not know if they will be willing and able to sign Serrano on July 2, 2012.

It ends up a very bad mistake for Andres Serrano. He loses the $750,000 the Cardinals had given him, and who knows if or when or for how much money he will be signed again. But then again, they may not have given him that money if they knew how old he actually was, so is it a 'nothing ventured nothing gained' situation?

He is from Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Dominican prospect Andres Serrano contract terminated by MLB