McGuire augments Chicago’s catching depth heading into spring training. The 29-year-old backstop lost his starting job last year in Boston to Connor Wong before being shipped to the minors by early August after the club acquired Danny Jansen. He’s a decent early-season emergency depth option for the Cubs behind Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly in case top prospect Moises Ballesteros isn’t ready to ascend to the majors right away.

McGuire lost his grip on the Red Sox’ backup catcher’s job after they acquired Danny Jansen from the Blue Jays just before the trade deadline. He’ll continue to function as extra depth at the Triple-A level, but it’s going to take an injury to Jansen or Connor Wong most likely for him to earn another shot at the big-league level.

McGuire is off the active roster and the 40-man after the Red Sox acquired Danny Jensen to take his place. McGuire will likely see interest on the waiver wire because of his positional value, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team trade for the backstop or claim him before the deadline.

McGuire posted a solid batting average in a brief run as the Red Sox starting catcher before finishing the year as the back-up. In 72 games he slashed .267/.310/.358 with one home run and two steals. He figures to enter the year in a battle with Roberto Perez for the right to back-up Connor Wong.