The Chicago Cubs agreed to minor-league contracts Wednesday with outfielder Chas McCormick and reliever Trent Thornton that include invitations to major-league camp for spring training.
McCormick, 30, spent five years in Houston and helped the Astros win the 2022 World Series. His best season was in 2023, when he set career highs by hitting .273 with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs. But he struggled through hamstring and oblique injuries the past two years, hitting .211 in 2024 and .210 in 2025 while playing in a combined 158 games.
Thornton, a 32-year-old right-hander, is recovering from season-ending Achilles tendon surgery with the Seattle Mariners. He was 2-0 with a 4.68 ERA in 33 appearances before he was injured coming off the mound on a ground ball against the Texas Rangers on July 31. The recovery was expected to take six to eight months.
Ten days before his injury, Thornton had to be helped off the field by training staff after he wobbled on the mound during the eighth inning of a steamy game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The temperature at first pitch was 94 degrees.
Thornton is 14-19 with a 4.38 ERA in 235 appearances over seven seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and Mariners.
Meanwhile, veteran catcher Reese McGuire, who played for the Cubs last season, has signed a minor-league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers that includes an invitation to major-league camp.
McGuire, who turns 31 on March 2, batted .226 with a .245 on-base percentage, nine home runs and 24 RBIs in 44 games for the Cubs in 2025.
He has a .248 average, .293 OBP, 25 home runs and 106 RBIs in 399 career games with the Blue Jays (2018-21), Chicago White Sox (2022), Boston Red Sox (2022-24) and Cubs. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected McGuire with the 14th pick in the 2013 draft.
Two-time All-Star William Contreras and 23-year-old prospect Jeferson Quero are the only catchers on the Brewers’ 40-man roster. Danny Jansen, who had been Contreras’ main backup after arriving from the Tampa Bay Rays at last season’s trade deadline, signed a two-year, $14.5 million contract with the Rangers in the offseason.
