Justin Woodall, the Alabama football player taken in this week's baseball draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, said today that he and the team have tentatively agreed to a deal and he'll play this summer in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League.
Woodall has been throwing for about three weeks and showed off a low-90s fastball, a curveball and a slider in pre-draft workouts for scouts from Tampa Bay, the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. The Rays took him in the 26th round.
"My breaking ball doesn't have the break back in it yet," Woodall said. "My slider was all right."
Woodall last pitched competitively when Lafayette High of Oxford, Miss., won a state championship when he was a senior. The left-hander was a 19th-round pick of the Mets coming out of high school, but passed on that and played four years of football at Alabama.
"I had committed to Alabama and I wanted to follow through on that commitment," he said.
Woodall was a defensive back for the Crimson Tide, so he can cover Desmond Jennings if the need arises.
Jennings, before signing with the Rays, was a star football receiver who had signed with Alabama. Woodall said Jennings is a good friend and the two spoke Wednesday about Woodall coming to the Rays.
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