December 11, 2014 –Former Victoria General David Rollins was selected by the Seattle Mariners today in the Rule 5 draft from the Houston Astros organization. Rollins, a left-handed pitcher from the 2011 Generals team, originally signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011 after being selected in the 24th round. Rollins was later traded in a 10 player deal that sent him to the Houston Astros in 2012.
With the selection today by the Mariners, Rollins must be kept on their 25 man roster for the entire season (2015) and may not be optioned or designated to the minor leagues. The Mariners may waive Rollins after 90 days and if he is not selected by another major league team, Rollins would be offered back to the Astros. If Rollins remains with the Mariners for the entire season, he may be optioned or designated to the minor leagues for the 2016 season.
The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor league affiliate teams when other teams would be willing to have them play in the majors. The Rule 5 draft is named for its place in Major League Rules. The June Rule 4 Draft, known as simply "the draft", "amateur draft", or "first year player draft", is a distinctly different process in which teams select high school and college players.
Rollins played for the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros AA) in 2014 going 3-4 with a 3.81 ERA in 78.0 innings with 12 starts. In 2013, Rollins had a fine outing in AAA Oklahoma City going 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits, striking out 8 while only walking one batter to get his first AAA win. Rollins was later designated to the Hooks where he was been for the past season and a half.
Rollins is no stranger to the draft as his first selection was out of high school in 2008 when he was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 19th round. Rollins elected to attend San Jacinto College and was later selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 23rd round in 2009. Again, Rollins elected to continue at San Jacinto College and was again selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 46th round in 2010. Rollins last draft selection came in the 2011 draft when Rollins was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays where he signed with the team and began his minor league career.
