Yankees prospect's Yostin Pena's Top 100 ascent has only one controversial roadblock

The New York Yankees' last foray into international amateur free agency was an abject disaster. Led by uber prospect Wandy Asigen, New York saw several high-profile youngsters rescind their agreements with the club as the international scouting department went through a period of turmoil that resulted in long-time scouting director Donny Rowland departing from the organization.

However, as we've learned with Jasson Dominguez and countless others, seven-figure bonus babies aren't always what they're cracked up to be, at least not under the Rowland regime. While the deals were disintegrating left and right last December, the Yankees did swoop in and reportedly find a steal in Yostin Pena, whom they signed for just $357,533.

Pena looks like a future stud, completing his first professional season with a combined .354/.431/.608 line, 14 homers, and 37 stolen bases. That run included 37 games in the Dominican Summer League, which is where nearly every Dominican-and-Venezuelan-born player begins his pro journey.

However, the Dominican native was so impressive during his time there that he earned a call-up that saw him bypass the next logical stop, the Florida Complex League, and land in Single-A Tampa, where he hit .323/.389/.552 with six homers and 10 steals in just 24 games. It already seems that the 18-year-old has a Silver Slugger and possibly more in his future ... that is, if he's really 18.

The reason why Pena was available to the Yankees to begin with was due to the fact that his agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals fell through following an MLB identity investigation. No details have been released with regard to the findings of the investigation.

Pena's performance warrants inclusion in top 100 prospect lists, but the age concerns have some wondering whether or not he'll make the cut.

Yankees prospect Yostin Pena's age concerns should have no bearing on his status as a top-100 prospect

There have been age discrepancies before for players coming out of Latin America, so whenever one is brought up, it's fair for folks to have some concern. One of the most notorious instances of age fraud is the story of Fausto Carmona, a.k.a. Roberto Hernandez.

The Hernandez example is unique, however. The pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona was arrested for identity theft in the Dominican Republic and was literally pretending to be someone else while actually being three years older than he claimed.

That's not the norm, of course, and not all age-related issues (if that's even the case with Pena) are of malicious intent. In fact, there are some complex diplomatic issues between the Dominican Republic and Haiti that can make it nearly impossible for some to even get identity-supporting documents. In other cases, shoddy record-keeping can cause discrepancies in birth dates.

As for Pena's status as a top 100 prospect, all of this is largely irrelevant, in large part due to his performance in Single-A. The fact that he excelled in the Florida State League, where the average age is 21, matters much more than whether he turns 19 on October 19. Even if he's a year older than what the listings say, he's still significantly younger than the competition that he dominated.

At the end of the day, performance is what matters, and Pena performed like a future star. That's what top prospect lists are trying to rank, and in that regard, age is just a number.

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