Cuban Free Agents: Dariel Alvarez and Aledmys Diaz

www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2012/11/two-more-cuban-players-to-become-free-agents/

I also found this Scouting report of Diaz apparently from June 2009 in Spanish (which Google translated):

verbiclara.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/paret-piensa-volver-al-terreno/

Honestly just based on the little inormation that I could find, which was little more than what was already posted, I would say that Diaz is likely the better of the two. Having exposure to internatinal competition at the National Team Level means that he has had some exposure to more advanced pitching as well is an obvious indicator as to how his talent is viewed in Cuba. Also his being two years younger is a huge deal as it will allow him more time to adjust to "American" baseball. The Cuban league is notorious for having large strike-zones which leads to over-agressive approaches at the plate as hitters try to attack the pitcher rather than the other way around. For instance, if you think back to Jose Contreras, he had a huge beautiful curve. However, after a few months here, the league realized that it was a ball almost 50% of the time. They then stopped swinging and he became much less effective, but in Cuba that pitch is often times a strike.

Here are a few videos that a re not a lot of help;
Diaz Homerun:
Diaz not so impressive range to the left:
A more imprssive play:
Hitting a double of a ball at his eyes: