Many people in sports media act like members of a sewing circle. The volume of rumors, gossip, and speculation bantered within a group is astounding. It might be fun to chat about, and it can be a benign bonding experience. However, some conversations are not meant for the airwaves. It’s one thing to hypothesize in private. It’s another thing to broadcast unsubstantiated conjecture.
WFAN’s Brandon Tierney recently, and without any proof, questioned Juan Soto’s age. According to MLB.com, Soto was born on Oct. 25, 1998, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He’s 26. The facts aren’t good enough for Tierney. He took a shot at Soto, who has struggled in his first season of a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets.
“Fifteen years of this? Does he look 26? Does he?” asked Tierney. “I shouldn’t even start this. This is gonna get me in trouble. But does he look 26? When you’re 26, you still have a youthful glow. Does he look 26?”
After co-host Sal Licata pushed back on the reckless speculation, Tierney said, “Okay. I can’t prove it. While I don’t know for sure… I think there’s a good chance he’s not 26, I’ll say it.”
Amid their conversation, Albert Pujols’ name comes up. David Samson, the former Marlins’ president, said on The Dan Le Batard Show in 2021 that Pujols, also a Dominican Republic native, has been lying about his age. MLB.com lists Pujols’s birthdate as Jan. 16, 1980.
“There is not one person in baseball, not one executive, who believes Albert Pujols is the age that he says he is,” David Samson said. “The amount of fraud that was going on in the Dominican back in the day, the changing of names, the changing of birthdays, it would blow your mind.”
Pujols retired in 2022.
Questioning the ages of athletes is not new. What makes Tierney’s comments about Soto so concerning is that they perpetuate a stereotype about Latin baseball players. His statements conveniently overlook the fact that Major League Baseball now has a department dedicated to these claims.
According to a January 2024 article by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic, age and identity fraud among amateur baseball players from the Dominican Republic has been an issue. Nevertheless, MLB conducts background investigations on international amateur players from all nations through its Age and Identity Investigation department, established more than ten years ago.
In November 2024, according to an ESPN story, a teenage prospect in the Dominican Republic who had verbally agreed to sign with the San Diego Padres was found to have falsified his paperwork, making him 5 years older than previously believed.
Juan Soto has been in the big leagues since his 2018 rookie season with the Washington Nationals. While there might have been conspiracy theories about his age, speculation is unwarranted in a professional media space. The teams that have the most invested in Soto—the Nationals, the Padres, the Yankees, and the Mets—have presumably done their due diligence. These are billion-dollar organizations making multi-million-dollar investments. If they believed that Soto’s birthdate was inaccurate, that information would have been leaked by now.
MLB teams have access to several reporters who would have been happy to be the first to break that story. So far, the loudest and only voice on this is Tierney.
In the realm of journalism, sports talk radio has consistently operated within a gray area. These shows primarily focus on entertainment and are not strictly governed by the same criteria as television, newspapers, or a credible website.
However, fairness should always be a factor in all media.
Reporting is an evolving process, and information is regularly updated. Perhaps what we know about Juan Soto today will be different tomorrow. But based on what we know today, Tierney’s accusations were unfounded and unfair.
About Michael Grant
Born in Jamaica. Grew up in New York City. Lives in Louisville, Ky. Sports writer. Not related to Ulysses S. Grant.