Yankees, Rafael DePaula still waiting on visa
ByOne year ago today, the Yankees agreed to sign Dominican right-hander Rafael DePaula for $500k, pending a work visa. VP of Baseball Ops Mark Newman confirmed to Ben Badler that DePaula still hasn’t been able to get the visa, so he remains stuck in limbo. He spent this past season working out at the team’s academy in the Dominican, but he is not allowed to participate in games since his contract is not yet official.
DePaula, 21 in March, had been suspended by MLB for a year after lying about his age and identity. His actual age and identity was confirmed by MLB’s verification process last summer, allowing him to sign. Unfortunately, the U.S. government doesn’t like the idea of letting people who lied about their identity into the country, especially after Sept. 11th. DePaula may never get a visa, but the Yankees also don’t have to pay him unless he does. The 6-foot-3 righty was said to be able to run his fastball up to 97 last year.
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This is why i hate this CONservative governMENt. freedom to protest? Gone. Freedom of speech? Out the door. Freedom to marry who you want? Never been given. An innocent teenager who wants to play baseball? Who the hell cares
This government isn’t conservative. Also isnt the department of state in charge of visas, which would that clinton is in charge?
Also he’s not that innocent he’s the one that got himself into this mess in the first place.
To quote Mike:
The U.S. government doesn’t like the idea of letting people who lied about their identity into the country, especially after Sept. 11th.
I think that says all that needs to be said.
Politics has nothing to do with this.
+1. You can discuss freedom of speech about other topics, but it’s not like DePaula is an innocent guy getting screwed by “the man”. That said, hopefully things work out for him, everybody makes mistakes sometimes.
He wants to play professional baseball. He’s not your typical mcdonald’s worker
He lied, he got caught. End of story.
You never lied once when you were a teenager?
My lie’s never cost an organization millions of dollars.
There’s about as good a chance it was his Buscador’s lie as DePaula’s.
I doubt you were in a comparable situation at that age.
If everyone only got 1 chance in life… We’d all be in trouble. Especially hard for a team with a known steroid user to worry about an age liar.
So your typical McDonald’s worker has less rights than a guy who wants to play baseball?
Freedom to protest gone? What do you think the whole Occupy Wall St business was then? Conservative Gov’t? Puhleeze… A Conservative Gov’t doesn’t endorse amnesty for illegals, doesn’t create socialist programs like Social Security and endorse wealth distribution…
You might want to do some fact checking before making outrageous comments…
Freedom to potest is gone? What do you think the Occupy Wall St business was all about? Conservative Gov’t? Puhleeze! A conservative Gov’t doesn’t endorse amnesty to illegals, doesn’t try to Socialize the Healthcare system, doesn’t force programs like Social Security and try to force wealth distribution onto us.
You may want to do some fact checking before making outrageous comments.
Innocent Teenager? If he’s so innocent, why did he feel the need to lie about his age?
Yes freedom to protest is gone. That is why people are getting arrested for no reason. We currently still do have one of the worst healthcare systems in the western world.
And telling a teen not to lie is like telling Sarah Palin to stop being stupid.
Speaking of stupid…
back the truck up…..
Wow. I didn’t know that the right to protest also included the right to publicly urinate and defecate and the right to vandalize property. You set me straight on that one, thanks for the insight… Lol, people didn’t get arrested because they were protesting, they got arrested for being anarchists and doing whatever the hell they wanted, consequences be damned…
Work may be needed to improve our healthcare system, but let’s be honest. If we stopped wasting billions of taxpayer dollars to provide free healthcare to ILLEGALS (don’t even get me started on welfare) the hospitals wouldn’t be broke and overcrowded. Obama has attempted to further tighten the Government’s grip on the taxpayers and set us back even further financially. Government control of healthcare. Does that sound like a Conservative principle to you? That’s straight from the Socialist handbook.
Calling Palin stupid? Talk about pot, meet kettle…
There is video evidence of innocent people being arrested, so don’t try to tap dance around the truth.
You’re just another moron being lied to by Bill and Glenn
I’m still wondering how this is the conservatives fault, is clinton not in charge of the state department? After an argument like that do you really think you should be questioning other people’s intelligence?
She is part of the denocratic leadership council, which is well documented for its right leanings
It’s a progressive thin tank…
Lol, I don’t watch O’reilly and didn’t watch Beck. I’m capable of formig my own opinions. How about you? Too much Olbermann or Maher?
You call me a moron? That’s example 2 of pot, meet kettle. Your insistence that our government is Conservative basically renders your argument moot…
“The 6-foot-3 righty was said to be able to run his fastball up to 97 last year.”
Or so he says…
Yeah he lied about his height too, he’s actually 5’2″.
He also said he wouldn’t opt out. LET HIS FAT ASS WALK BACK TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
So he’s still about twice as tall as Dustbin Pedroia?
The Yankees should offer to deport Burnett in exchange for DePaula.
Conservative government? Oh my.
As much as I bleed pinstripes, and want the Yankees to be the best, I almost hope this kid is made an example of, and not given a visa. I’m sure he will be given one in the end. He’s simply a young kid who made a stupid decision. Still though, people need to see that you can’t lie to our country, get caught, and still be handed $500k without recourse. I’m sure other kids looking to sign with American teams are now thinking twice about lying. I hope so anyway.
Yeah, he should be noble like George Steinbrenner.
Absolutely correct. It wasn’t something terribly harmful that the kid did, but he also shouldn’t automatically be handed a Visa…
Oh, please. Get over the ignorant “us” v. “them” crap. People take steroids and are still allowed to play MLB baseball. Labor needs to be able to move freely to respond to demand.
Unless you own a bank.
There is simply no reason for the US government to come down on this kid and ruin his dreams. He was already punished by MLB. He clearly isn’t a terrorist and it’s not going to discourage anyone who is looking to harm this country to make an example of some Dominican baseball player. He made a mistake, but there was someone else behind this who encouraged him and got him the fake ids. That guy, or guys, is still out there, and they don’t give a crap how many kids don’t get a shot as long as they’re getting their cut. I don’t care if he plays for the Yankees or someone else, the people it really affects, MLB, have said he’s paid his dues.
I didn’t vote for MLB to carry out our security policies.
Please… What security threat does De Paula pose to the US?
He’ll get his Visa eventually. MLB is not part of the Government. If he misrepresented himself on his application, or someone else did, too bad. Wait until you’re allowed to reapply, do it right and hopefully it’ll work out for you. How is that any different from any other person who lies to try to get a Visa? They would be denied and forced to wait to reapply. What about people entering the country illegally, are caught and deported? Is it mean of the Government to deport them because they are ruining his dreams? Lying on a Visa application is the same as trying to enter a country illegally.