When initially acquired from the Pirates at the 2016 trade deadline, Reese McGuire was ranked as the 6th best prospect in the Pittsburgh system. He then saw his rank fall to a lowly 13th in the Toronto system after just 15 games with the Blue Jays’ AA squad, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He was also injured in the latter half of that year, contributing to his drop in rank.
During the 2017 season, Reese saw some time in Dunedin, New Hampshire, and the Gulf Coast League, hitting .295 in a total of 45 games across three levels.