Dodgers acquire utility player Pat Valaika from Mariners

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired utility player Pat Valaika from the Seattle Mariners. 

Valaika, 30, is a lifetime .221 hitter with 30 homers and 92 RBIs over 373 games in six big league seasons. Mostly known for his ability to slot in at any position, Valaika has appeared at seven of the nine positions on the diamond — pitcher and catcher excluded.

He has been assigned to the Dodgers Triple-A team, the Oklahoma City Dodgers. 

The move likely comes as a way to improve the Dodgers' organizational depth, as Gavin Lux is expected to miss the remainder of the season after he was tore his ACL in Spring Training. Chris Taylor was also recently placed on the IL and will likely miss time until after the All-Star break.

Valaika spent all of 2022 with the Atlanta Braves Triple-A team before he signed a minor league deal with the Mariners ahead of the 2023 season. 

Valaika returns to his roots, having grown up in Southern California and attending William S. Hart High School before playing college baseball at UCLA. 

He first broke into the bigs in 2016 with the Colorado Rockies, who drafted him in the ninth round of the 2013 MLB Draft. He spent three seasons with the Rockies before he was claimed off of waivers by the Baltimore Orioles in 2020.