FILE — Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks back to the dugout after flying out in the ninth inning during Game 3 of the 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium. Oct. 26, 2018. Rob Tringali/MLB via Getty Images
Yasiel Puig short lived Baseball career is now headed to Prison
That’s Amaury Pi-González
In 2012, a young Yasiel Puig escaped communist Cuba via a smuggling operation arranged by Florida-based businessman Raul Pacheco, who paid smugglers $250,000. The trafficking ring transported him by boat, holding him in México until the payment was secured in exchange for 20% of his future MLB earnings.
On February 6, former Major League outfielder Yasiel Puig was found guilty of obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators regarding his involvement in an illegal sports gambling operation. The man from Cienfuegos, Cuba, who enchanted baseball fans with his innate talents on the field now faces up to 20 years in federal prison, with sentencing scheduled for May 26, 2026.
Originally signed with the LA Dodgers, he was an electric, high-energy player, but also known for a controversial playing style that Dodgers Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully nicknamed “The Wild Horse”. In 2013, during his first major league season as a young outfielder for the LA Dodgers, I had the opportunity to interview the rookie Yasiel before a game in Anaheim against the Angels for our pre-game show on Fox Sports Los Angeles.
He was shy but very grateful to be playing in the major leagues, and he was very happy to be here in the United States playing baseball. As of late 2025, Yasiel Puig, 34, expressed a strong desire to return to MLB and finish his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers saying he loves the city, the fans, and the stadium, and that his passion to continue is strong.
That short (around 3-minute) interview with Yasiel was the only time I had the opportunity to talk with him. I remember that everybody in the Los Angeles media requested an interview with the young Cuban sensation at the time. The Dodgers appointed an interpreter since he didn’t speak English.
One of the Dodgers’ media people told me they were getting requests from media all over the US and from other countries to interview the young rookie. His life in Cuba, since he was a young boy, and his education was focused mostly on baseball.
Under the Cuban communist system, they train their kids to play baseball right after they can walk. Baseball has been the sport in Cuba for over 100 years. However, he only had a third-grade education. His focus was always baseball. Yasiel played professionally on the Serie Nacional de Béisbol de Cuba (National Baseball Series of Cuba), where he played for the Cienfuegos team from 2008 to 2009 and 2010 to 2011.
Was Yasiel Puig ever incarcerated in Cuba? Yasiel Puig was not formally incarcerated in a prison by the Cuban government, but he was detained by authorities during one of his failed attempts to defect. Before successfully escaping, he was detained for six days during a raid on a safe house during his third attempt to leave Cuba as a 2013 rookie, the Dodgers’ young Cuban was famously compared to Joe DiMaggio because of the record-setting pace of his debut month. His impact in 2013 was ranked second only to Joe DiMaggio’s 1936 debut Yasiel Puig played for seven years in the major leagues, six of those with the Dodgers, and later briefly with the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians.
Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.
While in the Bay Area, great food and great prices. 998cuba.com
