Jamaine Cotton, selected in the 17th round of this year’s Major League Baseball draft, officially signed Friday night with the Houston Astros.
Cotton, a 19-year-old right-hander who played with Western Oklahoma State and finished this year with an 11-1 record, is the first local baseball player to sign with a MLB team since Ivanna Eudora Kean High School alum DeShaun Brooks in 2007.
"It’s a great accomplishment in my life," Cotton said Friday after he signed the papers and donned his Astros baseball cap for the first time. "It’s been a dream from the time I started playing. I mean, I always watch it on TV and said I want a chance to get there, so it feels really good to get this far. And I’ll continue to work hard to get as far as I can — I’ll hopefully make it to the big leagues."
Cotton will start his career in the Appalachian League for the Greeneville, S.C., Astros, a rookie affiliate of the organization. He leaves Monday for Kissimmee, Fla., where he’ll take a physical and then meet with his new team. Rookie league starts on June 22.
Florida-area scout Greg Brown, who flew in to the territory just about an hour before the signing, said Friday he hopes Cotton eventually makes it to the majors and sees him filling out the backend of the bullpen.
"Cotton here is a strong armed, right-handed pitcher who has a chance to pitch at the backend of the bullpen for us for a while," Brown said at the signing, which was held in the VIP lounge of the Windward Passage Holiday Inn Hotel. "And we’re real excited to have him and when he goes out and starts his career it’s going to be fun to watch and see how it grows."
