Beltre Investigation Could Last a While

Baseball’s investigation into the alleged illegal signing of third baseman Adrian Beltre by the Dodgers is not expected to be completed quickly.

“It could take several weeks and I would certainly expect it to take into December, particularly in light of the [Thanksgiving] season and the possible necessity of travel to the Dominican [Republic],” Sandy Alderson, baseball’s executive vice president of operations, said Monday.

Alderson confirmed that he has received an inquiry request from Scott Boras, Beltre’s agent, and will be supervising the investigation.

Boras claims that Beltre, who completed his first full season with the Dodgers this year but his fifth in the organization, was signed by the Dodgers at 15, rather than the required 16 for foreign players who are not subject to the draft, and should be declared a free agent.

The Dodgers have refused comment, other than to say they will cooperate and have already sent pertinent paperwork to the commissioner’s office.

Asked if there were a statute of limitations, from the time of the alleged illegality and the request for an investigation, Alderson said that would be “part of the inquiry and analysis of the relative precedent.” He added, however, that he could not recall a case in which there has been such a passage of time and, depending on results of the investigation, that could impact the type of penalty levied on the Dodgers.

The investigation is being launched in the aftermath of Beltre’s impressive 1999 season, during which he hit .275 with 15 home runs and enhanced his market value as a potential free agent.

The commissioner’s office fined the Dodgers $200,000 earlier this year and declared two Cuban players in the club’s farm system--outfielder Josue Perez and infielder Juan Carlos Diaz--free agents because they were scouted illegally by the Dodgers in Cuba and signed in the Dominican Republic without the required tryout camp open to other clubs.

About three years passed between the time of Diaz’s signing by the Dodgers and the request for an investigation by his Los Angeles agents, Steve Schneider and Gus Dominguez, and about one year for Perez.

Perez was subsequently signed by the Philadelphia Phillies for $850,000, and Diaz is believed close to signing with the Boston Red Sox.

The Dodger media guide lists Beltre as having been born on April 7, 1978, but Boras says Beltre was actually born on that date in 1979, which would have made him 15 at the time of his signing.

Many baseball officials believe there are widespread abuses of the 16-year-old signing rule--often unintentional on the part of the respective clubs because of poorer documentation in Third World countries such as the Dominican Republic.

That documentation, Alderson acknowledged, isn’t always “as precise as in the United States, but those issues of fact can be dealt with.”