7:52pm: Two sources familiar with Nunez's immigration status say the righty has been playing under an assumed name, reports Steven Wine of the Associated Press.
The Marlins have been aware of this for months, according to Wine's report. One of the sources says Nunez's real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo, and he's actually 29 years old, not 28.
1:14pm: The Marlins placed closer Leo Nunez on the restricted list for undisclosed reasons, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Agent Andy Mota declined to comment on his client, who was headed to the Dominican Republic.
Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel hears that Nunez isn't being disciplined for inappropriate behavior. He was placed on the list to return to the Dominican Republic and handle a personal matter.
Players on the restricted list do not count toward a team's 25-man or 40-man roster. Teams do not always pay players on the restricted list, so Nunez could be at risk of losing some of his $3.65MM salary depending on the circumstances of the move and whether the MLBPA objects on his behalf.
Nunez will be arbitration eligible for the fourth time this coming offseason and MLBTR's Tim Dierkes projects a $5.8MM salary for the right-hander in 2012, assuming the Marlins tender him a contract. Back in July, Rodriguez reported that the Marlins intended to keep Nunez in 2012.
Nunez, 28, has a 4.06 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and 36 saves in 64 1/3 innings this year. Keep track of the latest fantasy-related reliever updates at CloserNews.com and on Twitter.
marlins should relocate to north korea
I hope not, I don’t want them to get struck by lightning.
Kommeraden Nunez.. it does have a nice ring to it.
fish have ran him out of gas (again) anyway. The go-to guy every single year for them with the BP they always put together, so they are not hurting themselves much being so far out of the race, except for now going to have to find an actual, reliable BP arm over the off season if they do non tender the guy now.
LOL, all the smarmy commentary in the world does nothing to change the fact that in the past 100 years, they have just as many World Championships as the Red Sox and Phillies.
Let that burn in for a second….
That sank in for most of us years ago when the Marlins had MORE Championships than the two of them COMBINED in the last 100 years. Doesn’t change the fact that they are, in the present, an absolute joke of a franchise run by one of the worst owners in pro sports.
that’s saying something with Frank McCourt still in charge
You know what they say, better to be lucky than smart.
-Better lucky than good
you know, the Red Sox have 6 of em in the last 100 years…
Blargh! I math failed too! Ugh.
I mean that is wonderful, but for most of the years besides those two they haven’t been very competitive.
A lot of people, myself included, would trade in a World Series to see a competitive team on the field year after year.
The grass is always greener. Growing up as a Red Sox fan with a team that was always competetive, but never went anywhere was miserable. Honestly, being a Boston sports fan was pretty miserable in general from when the Bird era ended to when the Brady era began.
What in the world is with the Marlins trying to discipline everyone in their clubhouse? Did they have a huge party and not invite ownership?
Actually, turns out that due to recent changes in Facebook privacy changes, Marlins management were alerted to the existance of Logan Morrison’s “I Hate Stinky Loria and His Stinky Cheap Stinkiness” Facebook group.
Actually, they all conspired to murder his puppy. Loria was none too pleased.
Puppies are expensive and require a whole lot of work. Loria would never involve himself in something like that.
I bet this was only done because Loria wanted to save a couple thousands bucks.
Which, coincidentally, happens to be the exact amount that someone bid over him for an 18th century art piece. Loria will do anything to win that piece.
Are you talking about Jack McKeon?
I heard that McKeon is mad at Nunez because he blew a save opportunity
earlier this week and sent a game into extra innings, causing McKeon to
miss the early bird dinner special at Shoneys. I think that was the
last straw.
Is the early bird dinner cheaper than the Senior Discount?
They’re usually for senior citizens.
Marlins will never be able to attract free agents. Mainly because of their “corrupt” regime.
He probably made a joke about Hanley.
Maybe he objected to the supposed new logo that was leaked. I certainly wouldn’t want to wear that as a professional.
I have a feeling that this is the work of McKeon and Loria. McKeon is by far, in my mind, the worst manager in baseball when it comes to handling his players. And Loria, well, he’s just Loria.
Loria being Loria?
Loria doing something stupid.
That’s Crazy, He lied about his name and age.
Yeah, like he’s the first player to do that in baseball…
I don’t know it says he has been playing under a false name and faked his age. Sounds like Loria was justified. I’m wasn’t sure I would ever say those words.
Since he has known about it for months, “justified” isn’t quite the right term. More like “trying to sweep it under the rug now that the season is essentially over.”
Personally I don’t think “return[ing] home to deal with the issue” is a valid response. When people who aren’t established players are found to have lied about their identity, they’re suspended for a year. Sounds like that should be the starting point for this.
If they knew about this sticky situation, why not trade Nunez at the deadline to a team like St Louis or something?
that would have got them in to more trouble i’m sure
I kind of wish it had happened, though, as the concept is extremely interesting. There’s no real precedent for it, so I wish we’d seen what would happen. Presumably the trade would be voided and Loria fined in some way.
My name is actually Kent Hrbek and I’m 52, not 51…
Nunez (Oviedo) should be banned from re-entering the United States for the rest of his life.
This is identify fraud, it’s a federal crime, and this is disgraceful.
There are several guys in the big leagues that underwent a name change. We don’t lock our borders to talent over someone trying to better themselves… and that’s exactly what he did. He came from nothing and fought his way up by any means necessary. Isn’t that what capitalism is all about?
Who gives a flying you know what about capitalism. Leo Nunez isn’t that good so there’s no real reason to chase his kind of talent. Let him ply his trade in the D.R. where he belongs for the rest of his ID thieving days. Plenty of U.S. born players in Triple A could his job just as well.
And where ever he came from obviously had enough “something” to assume a false legal identity and obtain very gainful employment; his concealed age and willingness to sign for peanuts (and take boli) no doubt helping him get his foot in the door over many college senior players who are told they are “too old” at 21, 22, 23 years old.
I have known Leo for a long time. Can’t believe this…
Well don’t you just feel like the smartest guy in the room.
Hehe.
Of course, from the updated news, it looks like he effectively just non-tendered himself.