TIGRES GM VALENZUELA NAMED ASSOCIATE SCOUT FOR TAMPA BAY

Quintana Roo Tigres sports manager Mario Valenzuela has joined the Tampa Bay Rays staff as an associate scout. It’s Valenzuela’s second talent-searching stint for Tampa Bay, having done some scouting between 1999 and 2004. He also was a team scout for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 1996.

An offer was reportedly made to Valenzuela to return to work for the Rays last February, when Tampa Bay scouting chief Carlos Alfonso was in Cancun to take a look at fellow Cuban Leslie Anderson, one of 20 players who defected from the island nation on a boat to Mexico just prior to last year’s Baseball World Cup. The 28-year-old Anderson signed with the Rays for a reported $3.75 million.

Valenzuela, who will continue his duties with the Tigres, will be an associate under the Rays’ top scout in Mexico, Oaxaca Guerreros manager Eddy Diaz.