I remember the first time I saw Fausto Carmona pitch. It was 2003 in Eastlake, Ohio, in the inaugural season of the Single-A Lake County Captains.
He was dominant for that level, a 19-year-old Cleveland Indians ace in the making who pitched with the velocity and temperament of a player who was much older.
And there's now a logical explanation: He apparently was 22 at the time. And he allegedly wasn't named Fausto Carmona, either. Carmona -- or, Robert Hernandez Heredia -- was arrested in the Dominican Republic while trying to renew his visa. He reportedly was 20 when he signed with the Indians, not 17.
Carmona/Heredia is the second big-leaguer arrested this offseason in the Dominican. Marlins reliever Leo Nunez was arrested on a similar offense, with the given name of Juan Carlos Oviedo.
Why do they these players do it? Because a 17-year-old prospect is worth more than a 20-year-0ld prospect to big-league clubs, and tracking the paperwork in a foreign country can be tricky for big-league clubs, so players rarely are caught. Who knows how many other current and former players out there have similar stories? (Maybe some kind of amnesty program can be worked out.)
So Carmona/Heredia is now suddenly 31 instead of 28, and the Indians are on the hook for $7 million this season. The Marlins are paying Nunez/Oviedo $6 million. Looks like they did OK, right? They can change the names on the backs of their jerseys if they'd like, but they'll have to get their paperwork in order first.
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