Cuban OF Dariel Alvarez is 2 for 2 on debut in GCL hitting a triple and HR

[sportsfan8703]

You say that like they haven't been preparing every offseason of their careers.

I think Urrutia was forced to retire and not play baseball for 2 years before he defected. Anyway I meant preparing with the help of an MLB team. As in getting top notch help/coaching with weightlifting, nutrition, swings, baserunning, that type of stuff. Urrutia said he made 200 dollars a year in Cuba no wonder dudes so skinny.

[eb45]

I think Urrutia was forced to retire and not play baseball for 2 years before he defected. Anyway I meant preparing with the help of an MLB team. As in getting top notch help/coaching with weightlifting, nutrition, swings, baserunning, that type of stuff. Urrutia said he made 200 dollars a year in Cuba no wonder dudes so skinny.

1. $200 is a lot of money in terms of purchasing power in Cuba (the real exchange rate is about 25 to 1 - though for tourists it's 1 to 1). Also, dollars are only used for luxury goods, he was presumably paid most of his salary in Cuban pesos which he'd use for his basic needs (which is anything not specifically sold for tourist consumption).

2. Urrutia is also from Las Tunas, which is a decent sized city and probably doesn't have many issues with food shortages like some rural parts of Cuba do. He's skinny because that's his body type, not because he didn't have access to proper nutrition.

3. Cuba's baseball (and other sports) programs are very different from American ones in that the training is a lot more intense at younger ages (this is why Cuba generally does so well at age-group competitions). The best way to compare them is to the schools in the US that are set up just for the purpose of having a basketball team, where the kids' primary focus is the sport and everything, including nutrition, weight training, mental training, that goes into that.

4. Baseball in Latin America is basically year-round, so it might actually be a detriment to come to the US with a non-structured offseason. And MLB teams generally don't put in a lot of effort to make sure their players are doing the right things. Think about all the stories of players showing up to camp overweight and out of shape: Pablo Sandoval, for instance.

[sportsfan8703]

1. $200 is a lot of money in terms of purchasing power in Cuba (the real exchange rate is about 25 to 1 - though for tourists it's 1 to 1). Also, dollars are only used for luxury goods, he was presumably paid most of his salary in Cuban pesos which he'd use for his basic needs (which is anything not specifically sold for tourist consumption).

2. Urrutia is also from Las Tunas, which is a decent sized city and probably doesn't have many issues with food shortages like some rural parts of Cuba do. He's skinny because that's his body type, not because he didn't have access to proper nutrition.

3. Cuba's baseball (and other sports) programs are very different from American ones in that the training is a lot more intense at younger ages (this is why Cuba generally does so well at age-group competitions). The best way to compare them is to the schools in the US that are set up just for the purpose of having a basketball team, where the kids' primary focus is the sport and everything, including nutrition, weight training, mental training, that goes into that.

4. Baseball in Latin America is basically year-round, so it might actually be a detriment to come to the US with a non-structured offseason. And MLB teams generally don't put in a lot of effort to make sure their players are doing the right things. Think about all the stories of players showing up to camp overweight and out of shape: Pablo Sandoval, for instance.

You make it sound so lovely. I wonder why he hid on the beach without food for 10 days to leave there. The skinny thing was just a joke. Now while he may not have lived under conditions that a late night infomercial would ask for donations, he also was probably no where near the life style he has now. My point is that Urruita and Alvarez will benefit greatly with an offseason with MLB level coaching and training. It'll be fun to watch them train in the spring.

[eb45]

You make it sound so lovely. I wonder why he hid on the beach without food for 10 days to leave there. The skinny thing was just a joke. Now while he may not have lived under conditions that a late night infomercial would ask for donations, he also was probably no where near the life style he has now. My point is that Urruita and Alvarez will benefit greatly with an offseason with MLB level coaching and training. It'll be fun to watch them train in the spring.

Obviously if you have the skills to be an MLB player you're going to make lots more money in the US. The government that the Cuban people chose is one that thinks baseball players making (minimum) ten times as much as teachers is unfair. A baseball player might disagree with that. Urrutia clearly did. There's nothing wrong (or right) with that.

My point is that there's no reason to expect massive jumps after an offseason in the States from Urrutia or Alvarez, since they're grown men who have had very decent resources for their entire careers, and also it's not like the team will keep a close eye on them - they'll be almost as on their own as they were before the O's signed them. They may have more money than they ever have before, but money doesn't mean better training. Let's not get our hopes up. Alvarez and Urrutia may be real good players, but they're not going to magically get better because they have money now. If that was true, maybe we'd have seen it from Cespedes, Soler, Ramirez, Viciedo, or any of the Cuban players who have defected before.

[sportsfan8703]

1. I never said that I expected "massive jumps" jumps from them after the offseason. I said it will be just interesting to see them in spring training. Like any other optomistic O's fan would say. Reasonably I'd like to see Urrutia and Alvarez become corner OF options in a year or so.

2. Since when did we start to talk about politics on here? Government the people "chose". Others might disagree that they "chose". But I guess it's ok to be a communist sympathizer.

3. I guess since your an "Aberdeen Reporter" your opinion matters more and how dare I post something positive about a player you obliviously don't like. Agenda much?

[eb45]

1. I never said that I expected "massive jumps" jumps from them after the offseason. I said it will be just interesting to see them in spring training. Like any other optomistic O's fan would say. Reasonably I'd like to see Urrutia and Alvarez become corner OF options in a year or so.

2. Since when did we start to talk about politics on here? Government the people "chose". Others might disagree that they "chose". But I guess it's ok to be a communist sympathizer.

3. I guess since your an "Aberdeen Reporter" your opinion matters more and how dare I post something positive about a player you obliviously don't like. Agenda much?

1. okay but then why not say that about any other player. it's like you're treating them differently because they're Cuban when all that matters is their baseball profile.

2. you're right, politics are off limits here. speaking as someone who has studied states like apartheid South Africa, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and fascist Hungary, in addition to Castro's Cuba, when I like talking about something that doesn't mean I support their politics. from a purely historical perspective, when the Castro government took over, they did so backed by a massive wave of popular support. that's what I mean when I say the Cuban people chose their government. also, you're not Joseph McCarthy and it's not the 1950s, so let's drop the "communist sympathizer" talk, please.

3. where on earth do you get the idea that I'm not a Urrutia/Alvarez fan. I'm a huge fan of both guys. I'm a bigger fan of manageable expectations. it'll be interesting to see them in the spring just like it'll be interesting to see any other player in the spring, fine. actually, since they're both fully grown adults, it'll probably be a bit less interesting. basically, what we're seeing now is them after an offseason, since they both had periods without playing competitively due to the defection process. they're both athletically built and their bodies have essentially filled out- we're not going to be seeing their physical attributes change much at all.

manage your expectations is all I'm saying. maybe I've gone overboard with the explanations, and i'm sorry about that, but I'm a history student and we don't usually get to apply what we learn to actual life. basically an offseason probably won't help these guys much, and we should take them as we see them without trying to project too much. it's not like they're raw high school kids here.

[clapdiddy]

Video of Dariel hitting, courtesy of Steve Melewski. Way out in front of the first pitch, but then settles in and murders the last ball. Looks good to me.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4mv8d8yaug1v873/AlvarezD_8.21_3.MP4

Looks like a nice, compact swing.

[Frobby]

I do think that Urrutia can benefit from some strength and conditioning training. I have no idea what he had available in Cuba, I'm just going off what I saw during his few weeks in Baltimore. I haven't seen Alvarez so I have no comment on him.

[Flacco Machado]

Alvarez has been promoted to Bowie. Wow! If this keeps up, he may be in Baltimore by May, of next year.

[Can_of_corn]

Alvarez has been promoted to Bowie. Wow! If this keeps up, he may be in Baltimore by May, of next year.

The issue coming in is how he would do against advanced pitching. Bowie should be the first real test for him.

[Flacco Machado]

The issue coming in is how he would do against advanced pitching. Bowie should be the first real test for him.

Agreed. Yasel Puig has made us all want a similar player on our team. I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm, based on scouting reports of Alvarez. We'll see how he does against the better off-speed pitches being thrown at AA.

[weams]

0-for-2 so far in his AA debut.

[Can_of_corn]

0-for-2 so far in his AA debut.

Bust!!

[Barnaby Graves]

Bust!!

Deport him.

To space.

[Frobby]

Finished the day 0 for 4 with 3 K's.