Blue Jays’ Brian Serven elects minor-league free agency
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Oct 2, 2024, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 2, 2024, 13:44 EDT
Free agency has begun for catcher Brian Serven, who’s no longer a member of the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
The 29-year-old backstop — who’ll turn 30 next season — officially elected for minor-league free agency on Tuesday, according to the franchise’s transaction log. Players who’ve received multiple career outright assignments can reach the open market regardless of how much service time they’ve acquired.
After clearing waivers, Serven was outrighted off Toronto’s 40-man roster on Sep. 19. Thus, he gained eligibility to elect free agency once the regular season concluded at the end of last month. He could still return to the organization on a minor-league contract.
In 28 games with the Blue Jays this season, Serven hit four doubles and drove in three runs while slashing .159/.243/.222 across 71 plate appearances. The right-handed-hitting catcher also struck out 22 times and earned five walks.
Behind the plate, the 2016 fifth-round selection logged 182 innings while backing up Alejandro Kirk, committing just one error in that span and producing a pair of defensive runs saved.
At triple-A, Serven posted a .265/.390/.379 slash line with nine extra-base hits — including three home runs — and cashed 15 runs while registering a 111 wRC+ (100 league average) over 40 games.
Prior to joining Toronto, the veteran backstop had spent two big-league seasons with the Colorado Rockies, hitting .195/.248/.314 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 73 games from 2022-23. For his career, he has accounted for 0.2 fWAR across 101 contests split between the Blue Jays and Rockies.
Toronto designated Serven for assignment last month after re-acquiring Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Boston Red Sox.