"I was with the group from the Dominican Prospect League yesterday afternoon in a private workout and was told this story about what actually happened and what caused the Rangers to believe Beras was eligible to sign.

In looking into Beras' background, the Rangers discovered that his father was a Nicaraguan who played in Dominican Summer League (undisclosed for what organization) in 1994 and then returned to Nicaragua. They did the math and figured that there was no way that Beras' actual birthdate could be December 25, 1995 as purported. They dug further into the infamously imperfect Dominican record system and found paperwork substantiating an earlier birthdate that would make Beras 17 years old and eligible to sign immediately. So they made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

The Rangers, of course, had no obligation to share this information with anyone else in baseball until after the fact under the current rules.

If that story is indeed true, and I have no reason to doubt it considering the source, it would seem as if the Rangers just outworked everyone else. That doesn't mean that Major League Baseball will approve the signing. But is does mean that all the criticism the Rangers have endured since should be tempered a bit."