PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. 28 (AP) - Infielders Jorge Diaz and Osmani Garcia, among five Cuban national team players who fled their homeland in August 1998, agreed Monday to minor league contracts with the Texas Rangers.
Diaz, Garcia and three others left Cuba by boat and went to Nicaragua, but weren't granted residency. They then went to Costa Rica and received residency in February 1999.
Diaz and Garcia moved to the Dominican Republic in October and have been training there since. They will continue working out there with Rangers scouting director Chuck McMichael and Latin American coordinator Manny Batista.
Diaz, who agreed to a deal with Triple-A Oklahoma, was invited to major league spring training as a non-roster player. He's expected to arrive in Florida in early March. He turns 25 on March 16.
Garcia, 25, agreed to terms with Double-A Tulsa. He's likely to join the Rangers' minor league camp in late March.
Diaz and Garcia were among a group of players who tried fleeing Cuba in March 1998, but were detained in the Bahamas. All but Jorge Toca, now of the New York Mets, were returned to Cuba in May 1988.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Diaz - who is nicknamed ``El Arana,'' which means ``The Spider'' - was on Cuba's national team from 1995-97.
He played for Villa Clara in the regular-season league from 1993-97, winning the championship the first three seasons as the team's second baseman.
The 6-foot, 210-pound Garcia was Villa Clara's starting third baseman from '93-97 and was an all-star in 1996. He played all nine positions in 1995, but is likely to be used at first base, third base and the outfield.
AP-NY-02-28-00 1606EST
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