Red Sox’s Reese McGuire Didn’t Expect Outcome Of Trade Deadline

The Boston Red Sox welcomed a few newcomers before the July 30 MLB trade deadline, which included swapping out catcher Reese McGuire for Danny Jansen — a move presumably made to address the team’s need for a right-handed bat.

McGuire, who’d already logged 139 at-bats through 52 games platooning alongside Connor Wong behind the plate, was designated for assignment 48 hours before the deadline and optioned to Triple-A Worcester four days later. This was an abrupt turn of events for McGuire and the 29-year-old admittedly didn’t see any of it coming, now playing in the team’s minor league system while the big league club remains on the hunt to secure a postseason spot in the American League.

“It’s just interesting. I’ll definitely say it: It caught the whole clubhouse off guard with that trade,” McGuire said at Polar Park Tuesday, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “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.”

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow identified starting pitching, relief pitching and right-handed hitting as the premier needs on Boston’s wishlist entering the deadline. Through additions such as James Paxton, Lucas Sims and Luis García, the franchise addressed the pitching void, but welcoming Jansen on board in a trade with the division rival Toronto Blue Jays meant — pending an unforeseen injury — that there’d be no room for McGuire on the roster. That reality wasn’t easy for McGuire to accept.

“It’s tough because I feel like I belong in the big leagues and this one did hurt me a lot,” McGuire explained, per Smith. “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.'”

So far, McGuire’s made two appearances with the WooSox, going 1-for-9 with two strikeouts, now playing alongside Triston Casas and Vaughn Grissom along with Boston’s electrifying prospect trio of Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel and Roman Anthony.