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By BRUCE LOWITT
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 22, 2001
A player with at least three years of professional service who isn't on a major-league team's 40-man roster can be picked up by another team for $50,000.
The catch is that he must spend the entire season in the majors or be placed on waivers and offered back to his original team. Rolls spent most of last season on the major-league disabled list while recovering from shoulder surgery.
Although he was in the majors, he was not active. So major-league rules require him to log 90 consecutive days on the active roster. He got 31 days at the end of 2000 and will reach 90 May 30. The rule keeps teams from hoarding players and protects players from being buried for years in the minors without getting a chance to play at the major-league level.