Dodgers, Blue Jays complete intriguing trade sending 25-year-old speedster to LA

Speed plays at any level. The Los Angeles Dodgers may be banking on that parable.

We've seen the Dodgers' outfield get less athletic this season with the arrival of Michael Conforto. They already made one trade to try and add some speed, bringing in former American League stolen base leader Esteury Ruiz from the Athletics. 

While Ruiz is doing well in the minors, he hasn't yet debuted for the Dodgers in the big leagues. Meanwhile, it seems as though LA feels it could still use another Ruiz-like player in their system to give themselves more flexibility.

That prompted a second trade from the Dodgers to land yet another minor-league speedster.

On Monday, the Dodgers announced they had acquired outfielder Steward Berroa from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations. The 40-man roster now stands at 40, excluding players on the 60-day injured list.

Berroa, 25, was struggling at the plate in Triple-A for the Blue Jays, posting a .195/.267/.234 slash line in 24 games. He debuted in the majors last year as Toronto was falling out of the playoff race and slashed .189/.333/.216 in his first 28 big-league games.

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If there's one thing Berroa can do, though, it's steal bases. He racked up 40 steals between the majors and minors last season, and totaled 58, 47, and 47 steals in the three minor-league campaigns beforehand.

It could be that the Dodgers are looking to find one ideal speedster to add to their playoff roster for pinch-running situations. But there's always a chance they see something else in Berroa's offensive profile they like and think they can exploit.

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