Marlins’ Oviedo Will Miss 2013 Season

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Juan Carlos Oviedo, also known as Leo Nunez, underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday and is expected to miss most of the 2013 season, his agent told ESPNdeportesLosAngeles.com.

“We hope everything comes out well and Juan Carlos can return toward the end of next year or in 2014”, said Oviedo’s agent, Andy Mota, Thursday from Pensacola, Fla, where Oviedo underwent the operation with Dr. James Andrews. “Relatively, Tommy John surgery has become a common procedure from which most pitchers come back.”Oviedo will be a free agent after the 2012 season; he’ll be 32 shortly before the 2014 season begins, so where or whether he’ll ever pitch again is an open question.

For more on the Marlins, please visit FishStripes.

Have we heard the last of Juan Carlos Oviedo? Or will he return in 2013, or 2014? Stay tuned for another episode of “As The Reliever Turns”.

For more on the Marlins, please visit FishStripes.

This could be filed under the category of “poetic justice”, one supposes.

July 23 is just one week from now, but it’s going to be much longer before we see Oviedo in a game:

Press release from Major League Baseball:

The Florida Marlins had a closer named Leo Nunez. Now he’s Juan Carlos Oviedo! Same thing, right?

That’s now been done. Clark Spencer:

That could happen soon. Manny Navarro:

Oviedo/Nunez has a $6 million deal for this year, but he won’t be paid while under suspension. It doesn’t seem as if we’ll see him in a Marlins uniform until after the All-Star break, if then.

Not so fast. From the Miami Herald:

Major League Baseball, which privately informed involved parties last month that it planned to give Oviedo a six-week suspension upon his return to the United States, has changed plans and decided to make the ban eight weeks, according to an MLB source.The poet in me likes to think that there was a big meeting, and Oviedo was acting like Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club, which gave Bud Selig a chance to unleash his inner Principal Vernon. “Fine. Seven weeks. Okay, smart guy. Eight weeks.”

Even when he’s finally able to resolve his visa issues, more bad news awaits Oviedo when he returns to the United States. According to a source, Major League Baseball intends to suspend him for six weeks after his removal from MLB’s restricted list. Several people already have been informed of the suspension.I had a girlfriend put a relationship on hold for a while in college because she said she needed to “Find out just who she is.” This must be exactly like that!

Still, a six-week suspension isn’t exactly prohibitive, and there’s a chance that Oviedo can return to be the Marlins’ setup man by this summer, if not late in the spring.

In the Miami Herald, Clark Spencer reports that Oviedo will not report on time to Marlins spring training:

The pitcher formerly known as Leo Nunez remains in the Dominican Republic as he continues to seek legal clearance to return to the U.S. The Marlins aren’t sure when Oviedo, who is on their restricted list and doesn’t count toward the 40-man roster, will be given the green light. But team preident David Samson said last month that it is more likely than not that Oviedo will not be on the Opening Day roster.

As you can imagine, when someone is caught using a fake identity, his life becomes an awful lot more complicated. But there’s a possibility that this situation could henceforth be a little less complicated. From Dominican Today:

The US is always pardoning that turkey. It’s always pardoning that damn turkey without even taking into consideration what the turkey might have done. The US could begin pardoning Dominican baseball players who have lied to the government.

Arbitration cases are generally the least interesting things in the world, like other people’s dreams, listening to someone describe why you’re a bad person for not watching The Wire yet, and the NBA. But every once in a while, an arbitration case comes along that is genuinely fascinating. Unfortunately, we aren’t going to see the entire process, as the arbitration case was avoided. From Joe Capozzi:

This was a pitcher who would have entered the arbitration hearing as a totally different person!

Some while back, Marlins closer Leo Nunez was found out to be Juan Carlos Oviedo, having used falsified documents to secure a player contract. This was kind of a big deal, and Oviedo flew home to the Dominican Republic, where he cooperated with the ongoing investigation. Because he was so cooperative, it was determined that he wouldn’t face charges.

Then, Thursday, reports emerged that Oviedo had been arrested. Was his case taking a turn? Could Oviedo face significant discipline after all?

That is no longer true, as of Thursday morning; this Spanish-language article indicates that Oviedo has been arrested. Loosely translated by Google Translate:

Tuesday, we have word on how the Dominican government will respond: according to Juan C. Rodriguez, Oviedo will not face charges.

Oviedo is getting credit for being forthcoming and cooperative. The man who allegedly supplied him with falsified documents, meanwhile, was arrested last week and likely will face charges.

Friday, Nunez has given confirmation. Not of the second stuff, but of the first stuff. ESPN:

So we don’t yet know for sure that Nunez, 28 is actually Oviedo, 29, but we do know for sure that Nunez, 28 is somebody else. And probably Oviedo, 29. That would be a weird thing for the source to lie about.

A different name, and a different age. It’s so absurd to think about, and given that Nunez therefore lied to everybody, including the US government, it seems like this should be a huge deal. A potential career-ender, right? Nunez deceived the government and his employer for his own personal benefit.

But if recent history is any indication, Nunez should emerge from this all or mostly peaches. Now, it’s important to note that I don’t have any special insight here. There could be something about the Nunez case that makes it different from other, similar cases we’ve seen in the past. But that’s just the thing - there have been other, similar cases in the past, and those cases have generally been resolved.

(Leo) Nunez’s real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo and he’s 29, a year older than listed in the team media guide. The Marlins placed Nunez on Major League Baseball’s restricted list, and he isn’t expected to pitch in the final week of the season.Other than that ...

The above quote is from the Associated Press article, and there is no word yet on the reason for the identity swap, nor if Nunez/Oviedo is in legal trouble. He is back in the Dominican Republic straightening everything out, which means the Marlins will be without Oviedo for the rest of the season