Cotton elected free agency Thursday after he was outrighted off the Giants' 40-man roster, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
Cotton surrendered six earned runs over five outings after being claimed off waivers by the Giants in mid-September, and he won't remain in the organization to begin the offseason. He has a 3.54 ERA over 73.2 innings over the past two seasons but has been unable to maintain a roster spot in the majors.