Cuban outfielder Felix Perez -- who had been suspended for a year by Major League Baseball on May 26 after having lied about his age -- was reinstated last week and is now eligible to sign with any team. Perez, who is 24 years old and not 20 as he had originally claimed, was set to sign with the New York Yankees for $3.5 million before his suspension. "This action was taken because it was concluded that circumstances existed that allowed the Commissioner's Office to exercise some discretion in the reduction of the suspension," wrote Lou Melendez, MLB's vice president of international operations, in an e-mail. Melendez declined to provide more details about the circumstances which led to Perez's reinstatement. Joel Bello, one of Perez's agents, also declined to provide details. Perez had originally been represented by Jaime Torres -- who represents such Cuban stars as Alexei Ramirez and Jose Contreras -- but Perez parted ways with Torres soon after he was suspended. Bello said Perez continues to work out and is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to sign with a team. Scouts are mixed as to Perez's potential, though certainly his stock has dropped after MLB discovered the age discrepancy. It's unlikely he will get a deal close to the $3.5 million he was scheduled to receive from the Yankees, whom Bello says have still shown interest in Perez. "Felix has gotten bigger and stronger since the first time I saw him in the Dominican Republic," Bello wrote in an e-mail. "He has an incredible drive and is a true professional on and off the field. The only thing that matters to Felix is playing baseball and putting on a show for the fans. When Felix signed in the Dominican Republic he used to drive himself to the field and trained himself along with other players. There was no structure to the training and it was unsupervised. Since joining us he has been working six days a week following a baseball-specific training program."

Mateo to Giants?

Last weekend's much-publicized workout in the Dominican Republic for several of trainer Edgar Mercedes' top prospects was a smashing success for outfielder Wagner Mateo, whose $3.1 million deal was recently voided by the St. Louis Cardinals after the team discovered Mateo had a degenerative eye condition. Mateo put on an impressive batting practice display, according to several observers, and may be close to signing with the San Francisco Giants within the next two weeks, according to one Dominican baseball source. The Giants were one of the teams who had originally bid for Mateo prior to his agreement with the Cardinals. The workout did not go as well for Cuban left-handed pitcher Noel Arguelles, whose fastball topped out at 91 mph. Arguelles defected from Cuba more than a year ago -- along with shortstop Jose Iglesias, who recently signed an $8.25 million deal with the Red Sox -- and was declared a free agent earlier this year. Arguelles has been unable to get a team to match his asking price and Saturday's workout did not help. At his best, several scouts saw Arguelles throw in the mid-90s, but he's been unable to match that in recent workouts. Here is video from Arguelles' workout from Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus.McDaniel also has this video of Mateo.

Sano gets visa

This week's news that Miguel Angel Sano received his work visa finally concludes a long and frustrating chapter for the shortstop prospect. Now Sano's career can finally begin. Though MLB investigated Sano's age for months -- and did not come to a definitive conclusion -- the U.S. Consulate in the Dominican needed only about two weeks to determine that Sano was eligible to receive a work visa. But Sano can't relax just yet. If MLB or the Consulate finds information at any point in the future that determines that he lied about his age, Sano can be suspended or denied a work visa. Sano hopes to begin his career in the United States next year, bypassing the Dominican Summer League.

This and that

• Bello said his agency now represents Ruby Silva, a 20-year-old Cuban CF, who hit .276 with four home runs for Havana. Silva, Bello said, was a member of the Cuban junior national team. One of Bello's other clients, Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz, continues to impress scouts and could get a multi-million dollar bonus. • Jose Iglesias has had a promising start to his professional career. The Red Sox shortstop is hitting .333 with one home run in five games for Mesa of the Arizona Fall League. Scouts continue to rave about Iglesias' glove skills. • Teams have begun to line up visits with prized Cuban left-handed pitcher Aroldis Chapman after his arrival in New York on Wednesday. Chapman reportedly met with the Mets today and has meetings set with the Cardinals (Monday) and Red Sox (Wednesday). He'll talk to the Yankees eventually, too, but right now he's more interested in going to Yankee Stadium tomorrow -- as a fan.