Age discrepancies or just getting ahead?

The Dominican prospect Jairo Beras, whom has recently signed with the Texas Rangers', will undergo investigation by Major League Baseball due to a discrepancy in his age. Is he 16 or is he 17?

As Major League Baseball tries to clean up one problem, namely steroids, they have encountered another form of lets say 'cheating' to get ahead, scouting for young prospects to take advantage of the lack of ability to effectively verify a players true age (birth certificates) in the Dominican Republic. In the past, it seems as though men in the Dominican Republic were trying to make themselves younger to be more attractive prospects for the American scouters, however, this is not the case with Jairo Beras. In fact, Beras' case is much the opposite. If teams can make a player older they can effectively get to them before other teams, and thus have an advantage in the long run. Steven P. Gietschier discussed in The Cambridge Companion to Baseball "The rules of baseball" to their earliest origins. Interestingly, he stated that "even before it became a professional sport, baseball created an administrative structure beyond the playing field to govern who could play the game and under what conditions" (Cassuto and Partridge, 17). While this does not specifically allude to the exact age in which a player may be a part of MLB, it does create the structure for the beginning of the establishment of rules about who can play the game. Further, the idea of Baseball as America's idealized past-time and a game of men has been completely mythologized as baseball has become a business of winning and getting ahead.

As stated on Wednesday when the Rangers declined to make a statement about the situation, "a source who had spoken with the team said the Rangers believe they signed Beras legally and expect MLB to validate the contract. Others around baseball are not so sure. A livid official contacted MLB about the deal, wondering how a player could age one year within one month" (Passan, Yahoo Sports). The Rangers seem to be playing dumb, while other GM's seem to think they (the Rangers) know exactly what they are doing. If the Rangers can effectively play dumb than the contract will remain valid and they will get to keep the prized young prospect and showcase standout Jairo Beras.