Yasiel Puig subjected to threats, suit

— -- Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has received threats from the human traffickers who orchestrated his 2012 defection from Cuba to Mexico, according to a five-month ESPN The Magazine investigation, which uncovers new details about Puig's harrowing escape from Cuba and the complexities of the illegal human trafficking rings that continue to shuttle major league prospects off the island.

The magazine's report, written by Scott Eden and to be posted online Thursday, also explores a civil lawsuit filed in a Florida federal court that accuses Puig of wrongfully accusing a man of attempting to set up a defection. The suit was reported by Los Angeles Magazine earlier this week.

Much of the information came through interviews with more than 80 sources, in addition to court documents in the civil suits filed against Puig and fellow Cuban Aroldis Chapman, who pitches for the Cincinnati Reds.

Puig is being sued for $12 million in Florida in an action that alleges he wrongfully accused a man of attempting to set up a prior defection. The plaintiff, a Cuban citizen, was sentenced to seven years in jail as a result of Puig's testimony. The suit has been filed in the United States under the Torture Victims Protection Act, a piece of human rights legislation signed by George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Informant tactics are referred to as denunciations. According to ESPN The Magazine's interviews with Cuban ballplayers in the U.S., both retired and active, former Cuban government officials and former Cuban and American spies, denunciations are common among Cuban athletes trying to avoid harsh penalties from the government following unsuccessful defections.

In a case similar to Puig's, a Florida family seeks $18 million from Chapman. Neither Puig nor Chapman has yet been found liable. The Chapman case is scheduled for trial on Nov. 17. The judge in Puig's suit is deliberating a second motion to dismiss.