Humberto Cruz, 19, a top right-handed pitching prospect for the San Diego Padres, has opted to self-deport to his native country of Mexico after entering a guilty plea to a federal misdemeanor charge connected to the transportation of illegal aliens within the United States. Cruz signed with the Padres out of Monterrey, Mexico in February 2024 and received a bonus of $750,000.
The young man was ranked as the ball club’s number five prospect by several scouting outlets before he was busted for human smuggling. The incident that may have cost him his career in Major League Baseball, practically every American kid’s dream, happened on October 28, 2025, near Lukeville, Arizona. A criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
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