The Washington Nationals are caught in a run-down due to their recent involvement with Dominican Republic prospect Esmailyn “ Smiley” Gonzalez due to falsified documents that stated his incorrect age.
I just hope that the other teams learn from the National’s mistake. It has been well known for years that agents oversea’s will do anything to make their players look as desirable as possible, even if it means they have to use unethical behaviors. All of the blame can’t be put on Gonzalez alone, this whole scandal is much bigger then him. Remember the 2001 Little League World Series when New York ‘s pitcher Danny Almonte was proven guilty with age-fraud, being two years too old to compete in the tournament?
It is hard to blame all of the middlemen, street agents, players, and families of players oversea’s who are involved with this scandal. Is it ethical or politically correct in any way, shape, or form? No. Baseball is gateway for young, hopeless children in the Dominican Republic to earn money to help them and their families escape poverty. If they can play their respective sport at such a high level through hard work and dedication, than age should not matter.
Gonzalez will be heading to Viera, Fla. for Washington’s spring training in a month, and will possibly have to face suspension. Now that the FBI is involved, investigating baseball players and other athletes over the world to prevent this from happening.
