White Sox's Abreu To Testify In Cuban Ballplayer Smuggling Trial

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — A Chicago White Sox player who defected from Cuba in 2013 will take the stand for the prosecution in the federal trial of a sports agent and trainer who reportedly smuggled Cuban baseball players.

Jose Abreu is scheduled to testify Wednesday in the case against agent Bartolo Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada. Prosecutors say they oversaw an illegal operation that smuggled players from Cuba to third countries so they could sign lucrative free agent deals with Major League Baseball teams.

First baseman Abreu signed a $68 million deal with the Sox after defecting from Cuba. Typically, Estrada's company got a third of the contracts and Hernandez got 5 percent.

Abreu was American League rookie of the year in 2014 and last year had 25 home runs and 100 RBIs.