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Steward Berroa

Dodgers Acquire Steward Berroa

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The Dodgers have acquired outfielder Steward Berroa from the Blue Jays, according to announcements from both clubs. The Jays, who designated Berroa for assignment last week, receive cash considerations in return. The Dodgers have had an open 40-man since designating Yoendrys Gómez for assignment a week ago.

Berroa, 26 next month, got a small amount of major league experience last year. He got into 28 games for the Jays and stepped to the plate 45 times, putting up a .189/.333/.216 line in that time. He also stole six bases in eight tries and got some good reviews for his defense in that small sample, with Statcast placing his sprint speed in the 89th percentile of qualified big leaguers.

His minor league offense has often been better than that major league showing, though he was out to a slow start this year. He was optioned to Triple-A to start 2025 but hit .195/.267/.234 in 24 games before the Jays designated him for assignment.

Last year, he stepped to the plate 300 times at the Triple-A level. He hit ten home runs, drew a walk in 11.7% of those trips to the plate and struck out at a 23.7% clip, all that leading to a 120 wRC+. He also swiped 34 bags.

He also had a good year at the plate in 2023 but was subpar in 2022. As mentioned, he has started this year on a down note. His future offense may be a question, but as the old saying goes, speed doesn’t slump. Berroa had 58 steals on the farm in 2021 and then 47 in each of the two following years.

Berroa still has options and could be sent to the minors, or the Dodgers could bring him directly to the big league club. They currently have both Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández on the injured list, subtracting two outfielders from their active roster. That’s led to guys like Hyeseong Kim and James Outman getting playing time lately. Kim has a flat line of .318/.318/.318 thanks to no walks or extra-base hits, while Outman has a dismal .067/.176/.267 slash.

Whether it’s in the minors as depth or in the majors, Berroa seems at least capable of serving as a fourth outfielder. Even if the bat doesn’t come around, he could do some pinch running and defensive replacement work, while any developments at the plate would be a bonus.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Designate Steward Berroa For Assignment, Select Braydon Fisher

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The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves today. Right-hander Braydon Fisher has been selected to the roster and outfielder Jonatan Clase has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo. To make room for those two on the active roster, outfielder Alan Roden and righty Dillon Tate have been optioned to Buffalo. To make room for Fisher on the 40-man, outfielder Steward Berroa has been designated for assignment.

Roden, 25, made the club’s Opening Day roster after a strong spring. He hit .407/.541/.704 in Cactus League action but hasn’t been able to carry that forward into the regular season, with a .178/.262/.260 line in his first 84 plate appearances in the show. His playing time has dried up recently, with just ten plate appearances over the past two weeks.

While Roden has been doing that, Clase has been putting up solid numbers in Triple-A. Clase hasn’t been hitting for power this year, with no homers or even a triple, but he has been walking at a 13.2% clip. That has helped him produce a .315/.419/.371 line and 129 wRC+ with the Bisons so far this year. He has also stolen 15 bases in 17 tries.

The Jays have an outfield mix consisting of Daulton Varsho, George Springer, Anthony Santander, Nathan Lukes, Addison Barger and Myles Straw, with Clase now stepping in to take Roden’s place. Time will tell how often Clase gets into the lineup over the guys in that group, but even if he doesn’t hit much, he can perhaps serve as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement. Roden, meanwhile, can get more regular plate appearances in Buffalo.

Fisher, 24, cracks the majors for the first time. A fourth-round pick of the Dodgers in 2018, he came to the Jays in last summer’s trade which sent Cavan Biggio to the Dodgers. Fisher has generally been able to rack up strikeouts but also with control issues. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has thrown 130 minor league innings with a 3.67 earned run average and 31.5% strikeout rate but a 13.4% walk rate.

So far this year, the control seems a bit better, in a small sample. He has thrown 11 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 2.38 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. The Jays evidently feel he’s ready to take the mound against big league hitters.

Berroa, 26 next month, was added to the roster in June of last year. He got into 28 games for the Jays last year but hit just .189/.333/.216 in those, though he did steal six bases. He’s been on optional assignment this year but is hitting just .195/.267/.234 at Triple-A. That performance has nudged him into DFA limbo, where he will spend a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays could take as much as five days to explore trade interest.

Though his numbers this year aren’t good, he was in good form at the Triple-A level in 2024. Last year, he got into 79 games for the Bisons, hitting 10 home runs, stealing 34 bases and drawing walks at an 11.7% clip. He hit .281/.371/.454 for a 120 wRC+. He is still optionable for the rest of this season and one additional season, which could perhaps appeal to club’s looking for some extra outfield depth.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Claim Nick Robertson

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4:10pm: The Jays have now made it official, announcing that they have claimed Robertson and optioned him to Triple-A Buffalo. Infielder Will Wagner was placed on the 60-day injured list with left knee inflammation to open a 40-man roster spot. That also created an active roster spot for shortstop Bo Bichette, who has been reinstated from the 10-day IL, as expected. The Jays also placed outfielder Daulton Varsho on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder strain, retroactive to September 14, and recalled Steward Berroa in a corresponding move.

2:00pm: The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Nick Robertson off waivers from the Angels, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams on X. The Halos had designated him for assignment a couple of days ago. The Jays have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make the claim official.

Robertson, 26, has a bit of major league experience with poor baseline results though more encouraging peripherals. He has pitched for the Dodgers, Red Sox and Cardinals over the past two seasons, with a 5.45 earned run average in 34 2/3 innings. His .386 batting average on balls in play and 65.1% strand rate are both on the unlucky side, while his 25.3% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate are both solid figures. His 4.12 FIP and 3.49 SIERA suggest he may be capable of posting better results than he has managed so far.

It’s a somewhat similar story in the minor leagues. From 2021 to the present, he has tossed 203 innings on the farm with a 4.39 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate, .326 BABIP, 66.6% strand rate and 4.01 FIP.

Despite the runs crossing the board, teams have clearly been intrigued by the encouraging strikeout to walk ratios. The Red Sox acquired him from the Dodgers in last summer’s trade that sent Enrique Hernández to Los Angeles. Just a few months later, the Cardinals acquired him from the Sox as part of the December 2023 deal that sent Tyler O’Neill to Boston.

Robertson only got limited big league action with the Cards this year, tossing 12 1/3 innings. He struck out 26.9% of batters faced and only walked 3.8% of them, but gave up three homers in that limited time. That and a .364 BABIP led to an 85.9% strand rate and 4.38 ERA in that time. In the minors, he tossed 21 2/3 innings but had control problems, an oddity for him, posting an uncharacteristic 15.7% walk rate.

The Cards put him on waivers just over a month ago, with the Angels putting in a claim. He was sent to Triple-A Salt Lake and tossed 13 innings there, striking out 25.8% of batters faced with a 12.1% walk rate, improved control from his previous Triple-A stint but still a bit worse than average. A .438 BABIP and 58.6% strand rate were once again culprits in a small sample, leading to a 6.92 ERA but 4.30 FIP. The Angels put him back on waivers just over a month after claiming him with the Jays now swooping in, bringing Robertson to the same city as his hockey namesake.

Perhaps the Jays feel the results will even out in time or maybe they have a plan to limit the damage that hitters are doing against Robertson. They don’t need to commit a major league roster spot to him, as he will still have another option season remaining after this one. For now, they can get a close-up look at him and see if they can find a way to translate those strong peripherals into better results. If things work out, he has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply retained well into the future.

The Toronto bullpen was undone by injuries and underperformance earlier in the year, with the club then subtracting from the group by trading Yimi García, Trevor Richards and Nate Pearson prior to the deadline. To compensate for the many absences from trades and injuries, they have been taking fliers on all sorts of relievers, having acquired Ryan Burr, Tommy Nance, José Cuas, Joel Kuhnel, Luis Frías, Yerry Rodríguez, Easton Lucas, Dillon Tate, Emmanuel Ramírez, Brett de Geus and now Robertson in waiver claims or small trades. Some of those guys have since lost their roster spots but the club is clearly willing to turn over any stone as they attempt to find paydirt.

Orelvis Martinez Receives 80-Game Suspension Following Positive PED Test

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The MLB commissioner’s office announced this morning that Blue Jays infielder Orelvis Martinez has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Clomiphene, a banned performance enhancing substance. The suspension is effective immediately. Martinez has since been placed on the restricted list, and the Blue Jays have selected the contract of outfielder Steward Berroa to replace the infielder on the active and 40-man rosters.

“The Blue Jays fully support Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, and strongly believe in keeping the game on a level playing field,” Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said in a statement this morning. “We were both surprised and disappointed to hear of Orelvis Martinez’s suspension. We will do everything in our power to ensure Orelvis has learned from this mistake. Orelvis has our support, and we know he will get through this.”

Martinez released a statement of his own via the MLB Players Association:

“For the past two years, I have been trying to start a family with my girlfriend. During the offseason, we visited a fertility clinic in the Dominican Republic and after getting lab work done, we were prescribed a treatment, which included a medication called Rejun 50. Unfortunately, Rejun 50 contains a banned substance called Clomiphene.

We wanted to keep this matter private, even within our family, and trusted the doctor who assured us this treatment did not include performance enhancing drugs. Therefore, I made the mistake of not disclosing this to my team or the MLBPA. With that said, I took full responsibility for my actions and accepted my suspension.

I want to apologize to my teammates in both Buffalo and Toronto, the Blue Jays organization, and most importantly, the fans who have supported me during my career. I will learn from this experience and come back to the field in September.”

The news is a major blow to the Blue Jays, who recalled Martinez for his big league debut just this past week to join the club’s infield mix after shortstop Bo Bichette hit the injured list with a calf strain. Martinez has just one game under his belt in the majors so far, having gone 1-for-3 with a strikeout while playing second base in his big league debut on Friday. While Martinez’s big league career had only just begun, he’s long been considered a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport and was in the midst of an excellent showing at Triple-A this year when he received the call to the majors. In 63 games for the club’s Buffalo affiliate this year, Martinez slashed .260/.343/.523 while playing both second and third base.

Now, Martinez’s big league career is on hold just days after it first began. The earliest he’ll be able to return to play in the big leagues is September 23 against the Red Sox, although given the fact that Martinez would be ineligible to participate in the postseason due to his suspension and that date landing just six games before the end of the regular season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Martinez did not end up returning to the majors until the 2025 campaign.

Fortunately for the Blue Jays, the club has plenty of options at its disposal to fill out the club’s infield mix while Bichette is injured, even without Martinez. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has stepped into the everyday role at shortstop since Bichette hit the shelf last week, and the club figures to mix and match between Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement, Addison Barger, and Spencer Horwitz at second and third base while Bichette is away. The addition of Berroa to the roster mix should allow Schneider to mix into the infield more frequently than he has in recent weeks, as he’s split time between the keystone and left field to this point in the season.

As for Berroa, the 25-year-old made his pro debut with the Jays back in 2017 and has worked his way through the club’s minor league system since then, ultimately reaching Triple-A late last year. He struggled in that initial cup of coffee but has hit fairly well in 62 games at the highest level of the minors this season with a .295/.380/.451 slash line across 222 trips to the plate. Berroa figures to factor into the club’s outfield mix behind regulars Daulton Varsho, Kevin Kiermaier, and George Springer alongside Schneider.

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