:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51804091/609413322.0.jpg)
Danny Valencia, infielder/outfielder who spent the 2016 season with the Oakland A’s, is now a Seattle Mariner, as the M’s have acquired Valencia in exchange for minor league pitcher Paul Blackburn.
Seattle gets a righthanded four-corner bench bat who can platoon for them at a couple of different positions, should they choose. He put up a .287/.346/.446 slash line for Oakland last year. Valencia has bounced around in recent years, and Oakland acquired him on waivers in August, 2015, after the Jays had to designate him for assignment to clear a roster spot.
Valencia is a free agent after this season, so this is a rental for the M’s. Seattle didn’t give up much for him, as Blackburn is kind of a fringe-y prospect who needs some things to click to be a back-end rotation guy.
Valencia, you may recall, was involved in the clubhouse altercation with Billy Butler that led, in part, to the A’s releasing Butler late in 2016. The A’s have now cut ties with the other party in that scuffle.