Some baseball players work their way through the minor leagues to earn a spot on the 25 man roster of a major league team. Others like Lucas Luetge of the Mariners were drafted from another team. He was drafted from the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system in the Rule 5 Draft and has been an effective left handed reliever.

Now the Mariners have drafted another left hander, soon to be 25 year old Dave Rollins. Unless he is returned to the Houston Astros he will be in Seattle’s bullpen on opening day. In fact he must stay on the roster the entire season and be active for at least 90 days.

In four season he has pitched in 88 games, 64 of which were starts. He is 23-16 with a 3.39 career ERA and averages 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings. He has good numbers and though he can either start or relieve, he most likely will be used in relief now that Seattle has J.A. Happ in the rotation. Rollins is familiar with Happ, for Rollins was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 24th round of the 2011 draft and was part of a trade that sent Rollins to Houston for Happ. Now they will be happy teammates.

The Mariners have had their eye on Rollins for sometime. They drafted him in the 23rd round of the amateur draft in 2009 and again the next year in the 46th round. He never signed. If Rollins succeeds he will give the Mariners a lot of flexibility. They have nothing to lose except some money to the Astros.

He may not have a name. His coming to Seattle will not get the buzz of a Nelson Cruz signing, or the addition of Happ, but like Luetge, he could end up being valuable.