NEWSLETTER
Seems like the Cubs get a lot of fringe pitchers from the Mariners, don’t they?
The latest nab from the northwest is lefty David Rollins, whom the Mariners had waived. On Rule 5 roster day, you never know who might become available as teams around baseball crunch to protect various prospects.
Rollins, 26, saw action in the big leagues with the Mariners for parts of the past two seasons, but the results were wanting, despite not-absolutely-terrible peripherals (well, in 2015, anyway; the peripherals in 9.1 big league innings in 2016 were across the board ugly).
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Rollins spent most of his 2016 season at AAA, posting a 3.77 ERA and 3.86 FIP over 45.1 innings. He struck out 32, which isn’t all that compelling for an experienced reliever at AAA, but he also issued only four unintentional walks. This is a gentleman with control.
Rollins was suspended 80 games in 2015 for a positive PED test, so there’s also that.
We’ll dig more into Rollins in the coming weeks, as the 40-man roster undergoes some changes. As is always possible this time of year, the Cubs could try to get Rollins through waivers, themselves, and then try to keep him in the minor league system (but not taking up a 40-man roster spot). To the extent he sticks around, the early assumption is that Rollins is being snagged as upper-level lefty bullpen depth.
More to come later today on the roster front. And if you missed the Lukewarm Stove post full of today’s rumors …
