The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to be active in getting rid of costly players the new front office deems ineffective. Yasiel Puig is not one of those players, but the man who financed his smuggling from Cuba to the United States is now facing prison.
So far this offseason the Dodgers have paid $32 million to get rid of outfielder Matt Kemp, traded away starting pitcher Dan Haren and paid for his $10 million salary for 2015, and also got rid of second baseman Dee Gordon, who was expected to earn a big raise in his first year of arbitration eligibility. Their latest casualty was reliever Brian Wilson, who was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
The right-hander is owed $9.5 million for 2015 and it's likely the Dodgers simply pay out his salary because not many MLB teams are in the market for an expensive reliever who went 2-4 with a 4.66 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 2014. Wilson was signed to a two-year, $20 million contract under the Dodgers' former front office led by general manager Ned Colletti. The 32-year-old's best years were in San Francisco during which he amassed 171 saves in seven seasons to go along with a 3.21 ERA and 1.34 WHIP.
Wilson's departure isn't the only news out of Los Angeles on Tuesday. There has been a guilty plea in the case regarding outfielder Yasiel Puig's smuggling to the United States. A Miami businessman by the name of Gilberto Suarez has pleaded guilty to alien smuggling conspiracy charges, which carry a maximum of 10 years in prison. The 40-year-old Suarez entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Robert Scola and his sentencing has been set for March 6.
Suarez's sentencing will follow that of Eliezer Lazo, who was handed down 14 years in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle 1,000 Cubans. Texas Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin was one of them, among other baseball players. Suarez was one of the Miami-based financiers who orchestrated the smuggling of Puig and court documents revealed he received $2.5 million from the defector's seven-year, $42 million deal with the Dodgers.
As a part of the plea, Suarez will surrender a house, condominium, Mercedes-Benz and several guns to the government. Additionally, he will not receive any compensation from the contract of minor league infielder Aledmys Diaz of the St. Louis Cardinals, even though it's unknown if Suarez played a role in his smuggling.
The 24-year-old Puig was an All-Star in 2014 and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year vote in 2013.
