Minor league OF Dayron Varona was summoned Saturday to the office of Chris Westmoreland, the Rays’ director of team travel, and told all the papers were approved and he is indeed traveling with the team tonight to his native Havana for Tuesday’s exhibition game against the Cuban national team.
“To see his face when we told him he was able to go, I know it meant a lot to me personally,” Westmoreland said. “It hit me personally, because he’s going to be able to see his family and go back to Cuba.”
There was more paperwork involved in securing Verona a visa because he defected from Cuba with his mother three years ago.