While fans still anxiously await the first free agent signing of the offseason with just one week left until the Cubs Convention, the North Siders have finally made an addition to the club’s big league roster.
The Chicago Cubs announced on Friday that they have claimed 28-year-old catcher Brian Serven off waivers from the Colorado Rockies, who signed free agents Jacob Stallings and Dakota Hudson to one-year major league deals.
Serven provides the Cubs with a bit more catching depth, adding to an area on the roster that entered the offseason especially thin with only Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya on the 40-man roster.
The Cubs since signed Jorge Alfaro and Joe Hudson to minor league deals to help shore up the depth on an organizational level, though Serven is the only one of the additions to be added to the club’s 40-man roster.
Serven enters the 2024 campaign with 73 games of big league experience, appearing in just 11 contests last year after playing a larger role with the Rockies at the big league level in 2022.
Posting a slash line of .195/.248/.314 at the MLB level with six home runs, Serven has fared slightly better at the Triple-A level with a .755 OPS across 134 games.
Serven did accumulate positive defensive metrics for the Rockies in 2022 with 0.4 defensive WAR in limited playing time, and could provide the Cubs with a solid injury relief option if the club’s top two catchers run into injury problems.