Hechavarria looks forward to putting testimony behind

Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria returned to spring training Saturday.

A day earlier, while his teammates began full squad workouts at Roger Dean Stadium, Hechavarria was testifying in a federal courtroom in Miami in a Cuban baseball players smuggling trial involving sports agent Bart Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada.

Hernandez and Estrada are charged with smuggling Cuban players into the United States through Mexico and the Caribbean in order to profit from their multimillion-dollar contracts with Major League Baseball teams.

“I was requested to be there by the FBI, so I appeared and I said everything I knew,” Hechavarria said. “It’s not something that is really on my mind or that I am worried about or bringing to the park.” Hechavarria, however, isn’t through appearing in court yet. Hechavarria said he will have to testify again Tuesday where he can be cross-examined by Hernandez’s defense attorney.

During his testimony, Hechavarria said that federal agents first questioned him about the smuggling operation in 2012, and that he lied at first about knowing a Hialeah middleman named Eliezer Lazo, who was suspected of collaborating with Hernandez, Estrada and others to bring more than 20 top Cuban ballplayers into the United States.

In exchange for his testimony, Hechavarria received immunity from criminal prosecution.

Hechavarria said that Tuesday’s court appearance would likely be the last he’d have to make.

“To be honest, what’s happening in the court isn’t really worrying me,” Hechavarria said. “I just have to go and tell the truth. It isn’t something lingering that has me concerned. That’s going to run its course.

“After Tuesday, I’ll be 100 percent focused on baseball and the rest is out of my control.”