Top San Diego Padres Prospect Likely to Be Deported after Guilty Plea

Many of the San Diego Padres’ top prospects have been traded away in recent years, draining their farm system. It’s now taken another hit following the reported deportation of one of the club’s top arms in the minor leagues. Alex Riggins of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that minor-league pitcher Humberto Cruz plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge involving transporting a person into the United States and it’s a “virtual certainty” that he will be deported.

Read More: MLB Power Rankings Week 6, See Where Padres Placed Cruz, who is 19 years old, is widely regarded as one of the Padres’ top prospects in 2026. MLB Pipeline rated the 6-foot-1 righty as the fifth-best player in San Diego’s farm system. FanGraphs noted that Cruz was “one of the best arms” last summer in the ACL, and he had the upside to develop into a mid-rotation starter for the club.

In 2024, the Padres signed Cruz and he received a $750,000 bonus as part of the agreement. He was part of the club’s haul in international free agency that was headlined by Leo De Vries, who was traded last summer to the Sacramento Athletics for All-Star closer Mason Miller. Cruz hadn’t pitched yet this season after undergoing elbow surgery in August, having an internal brace procedure to repair a UCL tear in his pitching arm.

The recovery timeline had him slated to miss the entire 2026 MILB season. Details on Humberto Cruz’s Guilty Plea, Expected Deportation Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images As reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, Cruz pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of receiving money in exchange for transporting noncitizen immigrants within the United States. As a non-U.