Rays add to minor league staff

Here is the Rays release on some additions to their minor league staff:

The Tampa Bay Rays have added three minor league coordinators for the 2010 season.

Bill Evers will join Jim Hoff as Minor League Field Coordinator, Matt Quatraro will join Steve Livesey as Hitting Coordinator, and Dewey Robinson has been hired to join Dick Bosman as Pitching Coordinator.

In addition, the Rays have named Matt Arnold the Director of Pro Scouting and Tateki “Bori” Uchibori an International Scout.

“We made these additions to our player development staff because we want to support our young players as much as possible,” said Director of Minor League Operations Mitch Lukevics. “With nine affiliates and 270 players in our minor league system, we have more teams and players than ever before. We feel these additions will ensure that every player receives the attention he deserves.”

The entire staff of minor league coordinators from 2009 will return in the same capacities in 2010.

In addition to Hoff, Livesey and Bosman, Skeeter Barnes will return as Outfield and Baserunning Coordinator, Jamie Nelson as Catching Coordinator, Mark Vinson as Medical Training Coordinator, Joel Smith as Rehabilitation and Athletic Training Coordinator and Trung Cao as Strength and Conditioning Coordinator.

Evers has spent 14 seasons in the Rays organization, including the last two (2008-09) as a professional scout. Prior to that, he spent two seasons (2006-07) as the major league bench coach and managed the Durham Bulls for eight years (1998-2005). He joined the Rays on October 16, 1995.

Quatraro has managed the last four years in the Rays organization, including the last two (2008-09) at Class-A Bowling Green and Columbus. An eighth-round selection by the Rays in the 1996 June Draft, he became the first Rays minor league player to join the organization’s coaching staff. He joined the staff in 2003 as a catching instructor.

Robinson joins the Rays after 13 seasons with the Houston Astros organization. He spent the last two years (2008-09) as the major league pitching coach. He previously served as Houston’s Director of Pitching Development and worked as a professional and amateur scout, including the evaluation of draft-eligible pitchers. Robinson joined the Astros from the Chicago White Sox organization, where he spent 10 seasons. The former right-handed pitcher made 30 career relief appearances for the White Sox, going 2-2 with a 4.05 ERA over parts of three seasons (1979-81).

Arnold has been promoted to the newly created position of Director of Pro Scouting after three seasons as a professional scout for the Rays. He joined the Rays in 2007 from the Cincinnati Reds organization, where he served as the Assistant Director of Professional Scouting.

Uchibori will assist in scouting efforts primarily in Japan, as well as Korea and Taiwan. He was the Rays Cultural Assimilation Liaison for the last two seasons while serving as the interpreter for Akinori Iwamura. Prior to joining the Rays, Bori was an interpreter in Japan’s Professional Baseball League for 10 years.