At this year's MLB trade deadline, the Boston Red Sox made a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays to bring in catcher Danny Jansen, and with two catchers already on the roster, they had to move on from one.
Boston opted to keep Connor Wong and designate Reese McGuire for assignment, which was a shock to the latter.
“It’s just interesting. I’ll definitely say it: It caught the whole clubhouse off guard with that trade,” McGuire said (via. MassLive). “I felt like we were a really, really close-knit group. And we finished that first half really, really strong. And everyone was on the same page. Everyone was locked in and ready for that second half to kick off. Unfortunately for me, that move was made, which pretty much put the writing on the wall that the position was going to be filled.”
McGuire has hit .264 with a .686 OPS, seven home runs and 46 RBIs during his three seasons with the Red Sox. But, after being designated for assignment, he passed through waivers and accepted a spot back on the Triple-A roster.
“It’s tough because I feel like I belong in the big leagues and this one did hurt me a lot,” McGuire said. “This one really, really did. It kind of kicked me to the ground to be honest. Especially when no team claimed me. That was kind of the icing on the cake. It was like, ‘Holy (expletive). This is really happening right now...’
“I looked around the league and I’m not going to name teams but there were multiple teams that could have upgraded at their backup spot. I feel like I’m better than a couple of the guys around the league. But honestly the timing of it with the trade deadline — and you just never know with team roster flexibility. I don’t know where those backup guys were in their contracts with their teams — if they had any options or if they were on guaranteed contracts. It’s an interesting time with the deadline, too, because you have a handful of teams that are making a run at something and you have a handful of teams that are almost looking the opposite way. And they’re like, ‘All right. How do we get our young guys up here for experience?’”
This isn't necessarily the end of McGuire's journey with the Red Sox. He could still be recalled again if Wong or Jansen miss some serious time. But, with Boston already calling Mickey Gasper up this week to give them a third catcher for the moment, it seems less likely that he'll be up again this year.
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