Dodgers Acquire Journeyman Infielder Pat Valaika from Seattle
Prior to their July 4 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Dodgers made a minor trade. The team acquired journeyman infielder Pat Valaika from the Seattle Mariners.
#Dodgers have acquired utility infielder Pat Valaika from Seattle. Had been with Triple-A Tacoma. He's joined OKC and is in the lineup tonight.
Has spent parts of 6 six seasons in the Majors with the Rockies and Orioles.— Alex Freedman (@azfreedman) July 4, 2023
Valaika had been with Triple-A Tacoma and will join the Dodgers Triple-A team, hitting in the lineup tonight. He was slashing .240/.343/.405 with four home runs through 38 games for Tacoma this season. He also added in one stolen base this year.
Dodger fans may be somewhat familiar with the name Valaika as he spent four seasons with the division rival Colorado Rockies. He then had two years with the Baltimore Orioles. He has not appeared in a major league game since 2021 and during that year, he hit .201 with five home runs and 25 runs batted in.
If anything, this could be seen as an added depth move for LA with all the injuries that the team has seen. It gives them a worst case scenario option to use and helps bolster their Triple-A depth as well. Manager Dave Roberts has been forced to get creative with their rotation players after a plethora of injuries and this is just another example of that.
The team continues their series against the Pirates for the next three games before welcoming in the cross-town rival Angels for two games before the All-Star break.
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yay for Pat. he was a stud SS for my UCLA Bruins team. I met him once and told him how good I thought he was. he is very strong, kinda like my other Bruin star, rookie sensation Matt McClain. success to Pat (and his brothers who also are ballplayers).