PORT CHARLOTTE — Truth be told, Dana Eveland did not want to join the Rays this season. He was hoping to land with a team that trains in Arizona, which is closer to his Southern California home than Port Charlotte, and he was hoping that team would play in the National League.
“I wasn’t real gung-ho about coming over here,” Eveland said.
But Eveland liked what he heard from Chaim Bloom, the Rays’ vice president of baseball operations, and he liked what he heard from manager Kevin Cash during separate phone calls. He loves the way the Rays use analytics and how that has helped older relief pitchers extend their careers.