Henry Cotto (born January 5, 1961) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and coach. He played in all or parts of ten seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, from 1984 until 1993. He played one season in Japan for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

, winning the 1994 Japan Series. After a brief return to the minor leagues in 1995, he retired. He then coached in the minor leagues for two decades.

Playing career

Cotto grew up in Puerto Rico, moving to the island three months after being born in New York. He attended high school at Colegio Bautista de Caguas. He signed with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

as an international free agent on June 7, 1980. Cotto played in the Puerto Rican winter baseball league for the Criollos de Caguas during the 1980s. After batting .274 in 146 at bats during his 1984 rookie season with the

, he was traded along with Ron Hassey, Rich Bordi, and Porfi Altamirano to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

for Ray Fontenot and Brian Dayett at the winter meetings on December 4, 1984. In December 1987, the Yankees traded Cotto and Steve Trout to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

for pitchers Lee Guetterman, Clay Parker, and Wade Taylor. In 1988, Cotto reached career highs with 27 stolen bases and 133 games played. On June 27, 1993, Cotto and pitcher Jeff Darwin were traded to the Florida Marlins for Dave Magadan. After the season, the two teams swapped Magadan and Darwin. Cotto signed with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

before the 1994 season but had his contract canceled so that he could sign with the

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. He hit .251 with 18 home runs in Japan in 1994, second most on the team behind Hideki Matsui. Due to the MLB strike that year, the postseason

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

received additional attention in the United States. Cotto hit home runs in games 5 and 6 of the series, which the Giants won 4 games to 2. Cotto returned to the United States in 1995, signing a contract with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

on February 21. Upon signing, Cotto said he would consider being a replacement player amid the ongoing strike. He later agreed to be a replacement player but was assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds after the strike ended and union players returned to major league teams. He played in 17 games for Nashville before retiring due to a shoulder injury. In 884 games over 10 MLB seasons, Cotto posted a .261 batting average with 296 runs, 44 home runs, 210 runs batted in, and 130 stolen bases. He finished his career with a .989

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

, playing all three outfield positions.

Coaching career

After retiring, Cotto served as a minor league coach and manager, primarily in the

' and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

' farm systems. He was a coach for the Double-A Port City Roosters in 1996, the Double-A New Haven Ravens in 1997 and 1998, the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in 1999 and 2000, and with the Mariners organization in 2001. In 2002, his title changed to "baserunning coordinator." From 2003 to 2005, he coached the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers, then moved up to the Double-A San Antonio Missions in 2006. In 2007 and 2008, he was the hitting coach for the short-season Everett AquaSox. Beginning in 2009, he worked as a roving outfield/baserunning instructor for the

and was the manager of the Arizona League Giants from 2015 to 2017. In 2019, Cotto said he was "semi-retired" from coaching.

Personal life

Cotto's son, also named Henry Cotto, was drafted by the Mariners in the 41st round of the 2008 MLB Draft but did not play professionally. Cotto and his wife Laurie live in Phoenix and have a second child, Claudia. Before playing professional baseball, Cotto signed a contract to play professional basketball in Puerto Rico.

References

External links

1961 births American expatriate baseball players in Japan Chicago Cubs players Columbus Clippers players Florida Marlins players Iowa Cubs players Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball replacement players Midland Cubs players Nashville Sounds players New York Yankees players Baseball players from New York City Quad Cities Cubs players Seattle Mariners players Yomiuri Giants players Sportspeople from Caguas, Puerto Rico Minor league baseball managers {{US-baseball-outfielder-1960s-stub