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Rangers Invite LHP Neal Cotts To Major League Camp
A member of the World Champion White Sox in 2005, Cotts has struggled with injuries over the past few years
Left-handed pitcher Neal Cotts is getting another, and quite unexpected shot at baseball with the Rangers this spring.
All told, the 31-year-old Cotts has had five surgeries since 2009--Tommy John, a procedure to repair a torn labrum and three others to deal with infections that developed after the labrum surgery--but Texas called him up to Major League camp this week. Before this, Cotts had gone back to school at Illinois State, trying to earn a degree in finance and preparing for life after baseball.
“After you hear no quite a few times, eventually you have to do something,” Cotts said this week, per ESPN Dallas.
Cotts was formerly a member of the White Sox and Cubs, and won a World Series with the Sox in 2005. He’s signed minor league deals with the Pirates and Yankees since becoming a free agent in 2008, but has yet to catch on with anyone. That said, he still believes he can contribute.
“It’s a good opportunity to get back into the swing of things,” Cotts said. “I feel like I can pitch. I don’t know what level yet, but over the last two years I felt like I could get back out there.”
