Blue Jays: Reese McGuire Traded to the Chicago White Sox

Sunday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that they had traded catcher Reese McGuire to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for catcher Zack Collins.
McGuire was in tight on the Blue Jays roster as he was behind both Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk at the catching position. He was unable to make the team out of Spring Training in 2021 and as such had to be Designated for Assignment (as he was out of minor league options) and he would eventually report to their minor league camp/alternate training site.
McGuire was acquired by the Blue Jays back in 2016, along with Francisco Liriano and Harold Ramirez from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Drew Hutchison. He would make his MLB debut in 2018 and struggle to make a full-time impact on the team until an injury knocked out Kirk and Jansen early in the 2021 campaign. McGuire would get into 78 games last season and collected 16 extra base hits over 217 plate appearances while posting a slash line of .253/.310/.343.
OFFICIAL: We've acquired C Zack Collins from the White Sox in exchange for C Reese McGuire. pic.twitter.com/Shw24R1Wla
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 3, 2022
In total, McGuire would play in 141 games over a span of four seasons for the Blue Jays collecting nine home runs and posting a slash line of .248/.297/.390.
The Toronto Blue Jays announced on Sunday afternoon that they have traded Reese McGuire to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Zack Collins
Collins is a 27-year old former first-round pick (10th overall) of the Chicago White Sox in the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft. Similar to McGuire, he has been unable to make a lasting impression at the Major League level as he has just 351 plate appearances since 2019. Collins does have more power, as the 6’3″, 220 lb left-handed bat had hit double-digit home runs in each of his last three seasons of minor league ball, which included a 19 home run, 74 RBI season in 2019 in just 88 games.
Collins and McGuire have a lot of similarities as they are both left-handed bats and are both 27-years old. However, Collins comes with one more season where he can be sent to Triple-A, while McGuire would have to be DFA’d. Collins comes with more offensive upside, while McGuire is the better defender.
Next. Seven Blue Jays in MLB.com Top 100. dark
It appeared to start the season that the Blue Jays would run with three catchers with the expanded 28-man roster and that could still be the case to give Collins a longer look. Rosters will be trimmed down to 26 players in May and the Blue Jays will now have the roster flexibility to send Collins to Triple-A Buffalo without the concern of losing him.