The Brewers announced that catcher Reese McGuire has become a free agent after exercising an out clause in his minor league contract. Rather than an Article XX(B) free agent situation, this was a specific clause in McGuire’s deal, and Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that McGuire can return to the Brewers if he doesn’t sign elsewhere within the next 72 hours.
William Contreras has Milwaukee’s starting catching job on lock, and Gary Sanchez was signed to a guaranteed big league deal in February. The Sanchez signing was a major roadblock to McGuire’s chances of winning the backup job, plus highly-touted catching prospect Jeferson Quero is at Triple-A and is likely to make his MLB debut before 2026 is over.
This crowded depth chart made it unlikely McGuire would be breaking camp with the team, which is probably why this interesting release clause was negotiated into his contract in the first place. McGuire has over five years of big league service time and can’t be optioned to the minors without his permission, so this 72-hour window gives him some time to access his options before deciding whether or not to accept a trip to the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate.
Catching depth is enough of a need around baseball that McGuire could find another job on a team with a clearer path to MLB playing time. McGuire has a good reputation as a defensive catcher, and he has carved out an eight-year career with four different teams at the Major League level, including a 44-game stint with the Cubs last year that saw the backstop hit .226/.245/.444 with nine homers over 140 plate appearances. That little power surge in Wrigleyville was an outlier, as McGuire has hit only .242/.286/.352 over his last 1040 PA.
If he doesn’t find a parking lot to his liking in the next 72 hours, he will come to Milwaukee with open palms.
His hero is Harland David Sanders
Was smart to opt out if he felt like the team was jerking him around
“Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that McGuire can return to the Brewers if he doesn’t sign elsewhere within the next 72 hours”…
You mean he can “return” to the minor leagues, since presumably, the reason he left is that the Big League team didn’t have a roster spot for him.
I’m not sure a guy with his big league experience is itching for a “return” to 5 hour bus rides, questionable menus and -5 “star” hotels.
He’s taking a hands on approach as spring training ejaculates to its conclusion that I hope is a happy ending for Reese.
He can definitely spank the ham.
Ooof…too forward
Hopefully he agrees to come back to the Cubs and split the AAA catching duties with Christian Bethancourt. The Cubs’ best catching prospect is going to probably start at high-A this year so it’s not like he’s going to be blocking anybody other than organizational filler.
Is there any relation to Maguire‘s premium car wax?
I heard the company founder consulted a young nephew to write up the operating instructions, “wax on, wax off.”
Everybody has jokes. He was a decent fill-in for the Cubs last season and probably deserves to be on a MLB roster somewhere.
Now you’re just stroking his ego
Where’s Cal Quantril now?
He’s more of a solo player than a team player. But he’s willing to drop trousers, set aside his cup and help stroke his team to victory! Maybe he could try to pitching he can grip and spin a sticky ball with the best of them.
I thought his name was Jack