Phillies Acquire Kameron Misner, Designate Steward Berroa

The Phillies announced that outfielder Kameron Misner has been acquired from the Royals for cash considerations.  Misner was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and fellow outfielder Steward Berroa was designated for assignment to create space on the Phillies’ 40-man roster.

This is the second time in the last eight months that Misner has been traded after being designated, as the Royals landed the outfielder from the Rays back in November shortly after Misner was DFA’ed.  Kansas City called Misner up to the active roster in June when Kyle Isbel went on the injured list, and Misner hit .220/.256/.244 over 44 plate appearances in 18 games before being optioned back to Triple-A shortly before the All-Star break.

The Royals designated Misner earlier this week, and he’ll now land on a Philadelphia team known to be looking for outfield help.  Adding Misner surely won’t stop the Phillies from hunting a clear-cut starting outfielder before the deadline, as Misner will essentially just replace Berroa as a speedy depth piece who can handle all three outfield positions and steal some bases.

Both Misner and Berroa are in their final minor league option year, so it’s a wash in terms of roster flexibility.  Misner is the more experienced of the two, with 97 games and 276 plate appearances in the majors compared to Berroa’s 36 games and 58 PA.  Misner has also slightly better numbers than Berroa at the plate, and significantly better numbers in the minors — Misner has his .243/.361/.470 over 1473 career PA at the Triple-A level.

Berroa is no stranger to the waiver wire, as this is the fourth time the outfielder has been DFA’ed in his career.  The previous three designations all resulted in trades, as Berroa went from the Blue Jays to the Dodgers to the Brewers to (back in April) the Phillies.  Berroa played in six games for the Phils and had one single over seven PA, as he was mostly used as a late-game defensive sub.  Because Berroa has never been outrighted in the past, he has no ability to reject an outright assignment, so the Phillies can remove him from the 40-man roster and send him to Lehigh Valley if he clears waivers.