Royals send Michael Gigliotti to Tampa Bay as player to be named later

The Royals have sent outfielder Michael Gigliotti to the Tampa Bay Rays as the player to be named later in a deal they made earlier this year for pitcher Stephen Woods, Jr..

The 24-year old Gigliotti was a fourth-round pick by the Royals out of Lipscomb University in the 2017 draft. He had great speed and showed an ability to get on base, but he missed nearly the entire 2018 season with an a ACL injury. He came back in 2019 to hit .309/.394/.411 with 29 steals in 59 games with Low-A Lexington, but struggled after a promotion to High-A Wilmington, hitting .184/.268/.230 in 24 games. He had a walk rate of 11.8 percent in the minors with 59 steals in 157 games.

The Royals selected Woods in the Rule 5 draft last December, but worked out a deal with the Rays to keep him without putting him on the big league roster all season. That deal will now include sending Gigliotti to the Rays. The 25-year old right-hander missed the entire 2018 season with injury but bounced back to post a 1.88 ERA in 86 1⁄3 innings with 8.2 strikeouts-per-nine innings and 3.4 walks-per-nine innings in High-A ball.

The Royals also released minor league pitcher Ofreidy Gomez and added pitcher Alec Marsh to the Alternate Site.