Paul Jata (born September 4, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball utility player who played 32 games with the 1972 Detroit Tigers. A native of Astoria, Queens, Jata is of Polish heritage. He began playing baseball as a left-handed batter. His older brothers persuaded him to become a right-handed batter, and he was a .400 hitter at William Cullen Bryant High School in Astoria, New York. In 1967, Jata was drafted by the Tigers in the 5th round of the 1967 amateur draft. He signed with the Tigers for $10,000.