Steward Berroa lands with Phillies after Blue Jays exit

Philadelphia acquired Berroa from Milwaukee for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To open a 40-man spot, the Phillies designated right-hander Yoniel Curet for assignment.

For Toronto, this is another reminder of how fast fringe roster pieces can move once they fall outside the club's immediate plans. Berroa has now gone from the Blue Jays to the Dodgers, then the Brewers, and now the Phillies in less than a year.

Berroa, 26, broke into the majors with Toronto in 2024 and gave the Blue Jays a speed-first bench option. In 28 games with the club, he hit .189/.333/.216 and stole 6 bases.

That profile always gave him some value. Berroa could run, work a walk, and cover the outfield, but it never turned into a stable big-league role in Toronto.

The Blue Jays designated him for assignment on May 7, 2025, and from there he became the kind of player teams keep trying to squeeze into the back end of the roster.

He showed enough after leaving Toronto to keep getting chances. Berroa hit .330 in 27 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Dodgers' system before Milwaukee acquired him for cash last July.

Milwaukee did not hold him for long. The Brewers designated Berroa for assignment last week to make room on the 40-man roster for infielder Cooper Pratt.

That opened the door for Philadelphia, which saw enough to take him on and stash him in Triple-A. Berroa still has 7 stolen bases and a .314 on-base percentage over 42 career MLB at-bats, so the speed remains the selling point.

From a Blue Jays angle, this is not about losing a lineup regular. It is about watching a former organizational piece keep hanging around the edges of the majors because one carrying tool still plays. That is an inference based on his repeated cash moves and his stolen-base profile.

Toronto already made its call on Berroa. The Blue Jays moved on when the bat did not force a bigger role, and nothing in the months since has changed that basic read.

Still, the Phillies are giving him another lane back. For Berroa, that means one more chance to turn old Blue Jays promise into a real major-league foothold somewhere else.