The Phillies have announced that they have acquired an outfielder Manager Berroa to the Brewers in a trade and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Milwaukee designated Berroa for assignment last week. To open the 40-man spot for Berroa, the Phillies designated the right-hander Yoniel Curet by share.
Berroa, who turns 27 in June, has a limited record in the major leagues. He appeared in 28 games for the Blue Jays in 2024 and two for the Brewers last year. He has a rugged .167/.314/.190 line in 51 plate appearances.
But he has a decent floor as a speed and defense guy. In the minors, he’s usually good for 40 steals per season. He was limited to 34 sacks in both 2024 and 2025 but only played 79 games in the former and 86 games in the latter. Combine those two and he’s on pace for 60 steals in a full season. In just 120 major league innings in the outfield, he accounted for five Defensive Runs Saved and three Outs Above Average. There may also be more to the bat than what he showed in the big leagues, as he has a .255/.353/.373 line in 673 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Outfield depth is an area of concern for the Phillies. They try the rookie Justin Crawford in the middle field. He has a solid .324/.361/.382 line so far but in just 36 plate appearances and a .407 batting average on balls in play. He consistently has the highest BABIPs in the minors because of his speed but staying at that level is impossible. For example, Aaron is the judge led the majors with a .376 BABIP in 2025.
If there comes a time when Crawford needs to be brought back down to the minors, or an injury comes up, then Johan Rojas it would be a backwards plan. However, he received an 80-game PED suspension before the season. The Phils started the year with utility guys Dylan Moore again Otto Kemp as players other than Crawford, Adolis García again Brandon Marsh.
Berroa has one option remaining in the season, so he could be kept in Triple-A. If the Phils need to add depth to their outfield at some point, he’ll be a candidate to get the call. They have it too Pedro León again Gabriel Rincones Jr. in the list.
Curet, 23, has been a longtime prospect for the Rays. Tampa drafted him in December and the Phils got him, sent him Tommy McCollum otherwise. He has yet to appear in a minor league game this year. The Phils optioned him to Double-A Reading to start the year but his MLB.com career tracker says he was reassigned to Single-A Clearwater last week.
He will now go into DFA limbo, which could last up to a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Phils could take as long as five days to assess trade interest. Curet still has a picking season and can be kept from children. In his minor league career, he has shown great hitting power but with control issues. In all, he threw 371 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.10 earned run average. He struck out 30.7% of the batters he faced but threw 13.8% of his free passes.
Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images
