Neal Cotts

2013

There was no outlook written for Neal Cotts.

2009

Cotts pitched well at Triple-A last year, but struggled with the long ball once he got to the majors. An unlucky hit rate exacerbated the damage, and the result was a 4.29 ERA despite otherwise solid peripherals (43:13 K:BB in 35.2 IP). Expect Cotts to fill a left-handed middle-relief role again this season.

2008

After a good season in the White Sox bullpen in 2005, Cotts was overworked in 2006 and hasn't been the same since - in fact, he failed to impress even at Triple-A last year. As a result, he'll be battling for one of the last bullpen spots with fellow left-hander Carmen Pignatiello.

2007

Cotts was abused in 2006. Manager Ozzie Guillen put him on the mound 38 times with no or one day of rest. It worked well for the first half of the season, when Cotts was 1-2 with a 2.95 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 36+ innings. He was gas on flames in the second half, though: 9.87 ERA, seven home runs and 14 walks in 17 innings. A nice, relaxing winter break and a move away from Guillen to the Cubs may be all Cotts needed to be a quality reliever with closer potential.

2006

Cotts rolled through 2005 as part of the White Sox's bullpen of death, posting a scary 0.70 ERA after the All Star break. With Damaso Marte gone he'll assume the No. 1 lefty role. Ozzie Guillen didn't pigeon-hole Marte as a left specialist, and Cotts hasn't shown an extreme split in his numbers to date, so there's little reason to think Cotts' value will be stunted by single batter appearances.

2005

Cotts started to find that elusive strike zone in 2004, but the result was a lot of balls flying over the fence. He's still young and still fairly talented though, so there's every reason to think the improvements will keep coming. He'll work out of the bullpen before getting another shot at the rotation.

2004

With visions of Dontrelle Willis dancing in their heads, the White Sox brain trust promoted Cotts to the majors last year and watched him issue 17 free passes in 13 1/3 innings. His numbers in Double-A for the year are eye-popping (2.16 ERA, 133 K's in 108 1/3 innings), but he had control issues (56 BB's) even before the ill-advised call-up. The timetable on his permanent arrival to the bigs is still around 2005.

2003

Lefty will have to prove himself at Double-A before we need to start paying attention here. 178 strikeouts in 137.2 innings at Modesto shows promise, but no overpowering stuff here to get too worked up about. The Texas League will tell us a lot about his future.