Jharel Leandre Cotton (born January 19, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers He played college baseball at East Carolina University.
Cotton played college baseball at Miami Dade College in 2010 and 2011. After he was not taken in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers offered him a contract as an undrafted free agent, but he declined the offer and returned to Miami Dade. He was then drafted by the New York Mets in the 28th round of the 2011 MLB Draft, but did not sign and transferred to East Carolina University.
On November 23, 2019, Cotton was traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations. On August 16, 2020, Cotton was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and was assigned to the team’s alternate training site in South Bend, but was released by the organization on September 5, 2020.
On December 14, 2020, Cotton signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers organization. On July 30, 2021, Texas selected Cotton’s contract and promoted him to the active roster. Cotton finished the 2021 season with Texas, going 2–0 with a 3.52 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 30 2/3 innings.
On November 5, 2021, Cotton was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins. On November 30, Cotton signed a $700,000 contract with the Twins, avoiding salary arbitration. He was designated for assignment on May 17, 2022. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A on May 19.
Cotton has never divulged any information about his parents, he is a very private person who likes to keep his personal life away from media attention.