Brewers sign catcher Reese McGuire to minor league deal

Just a day after I wrote about the Brewers notably inviting two catchers to spring training, they’ve tacked on another catcher to that group.

Veteran catcher Reese McGuire, who spent last season with the Cubs, has agreed to a minor league deal with Milwaukee with an invite to major league spring training, per Curt Hogg.

McGuire, 31 in March, was a first-round pick by the Pirates back in 2013. He’s appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons with four different teams, including the Blue Jays, White Sox, Red Sox, and Cubs. His best season came back in 2019, when he appeared in 30 games for Toronto and totaled 1.0 bWAR, hitting .299/.346/.526 with five homers and 11 RBIs.

He appeared in 44 with Chicago in 2025, functioning as the primary backup to Carson Kelly. He hit .226/.245/.444 with nine homers, 24 RBIs, and 17 runs scored. He’s also considered an above-average catcher in terms of framing, blocking, and his throwing arm, catching eight of 31 would-be stealers in 2025 (25.9%) and sporting a career caught-stealing rate of 27.1%.

While William Contreras is the clear starter behind the plate for Milwaukee, McGuire will compete with Jeferson Quero and a few other minor leaguers for the backup job this spring. If the coaching staff feels that Quero needs a little more time to develop, it isn’t inconceivable that McGuire breaks camp with the major league squad at the end of March.

McGuire also doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so if he enters the season on the Brewers’ MLB roster, the team won’t be able to option him whenever Quero is ready.