Joey Votto has spent his entire professional career with the Reds organization, dating back to his second-round selection in the 2002 MLB draft and his Major League debut in 2007. If he hopes to suit up for an 18th MLB campaign, however, it seems increasingly likely it’ll be with a new team. Cincinnati president of baseball operations Nick Krall all but confirmed as much when asked by season-ticket holders whether Votto would return (link via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). “We don’t plan to bring him back as of now,” Krall candidly replied.
A crowded Reds infield mix has already pushed jack-of-all-trades Spencer Steer to left field. Cincinnati deepened its wealth of infield talent earlier in the winter, signing third baseman Jeimer Candelario to a three-year, $45M pact. He joins Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Jonathan India and Christian Encarnacion-Strand as options around the infield (with Steer on-hand in the event that injuries necessitate a move back onto the dirt). That glut of names already made Votto a long shot to return, but it’s still uncommon for any executive to comment directly on an unsigned player’s fit with his or her club (or in this case, the lack thereof).
Votto, 40, has already stated he hopes to continue his career. The six-time All-Star and former National League MVP spoke with C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic earlier in the offseason and discussed his struggles while playing through a shoulder injury that required surgery in 2022 and continued to cause him trouble in 2023. Votto opened the 2023 season on the injured list and had a productive 41-game stint upon being activated, but was placed back on the injured list in August and wilted upon his return to the roster.
It’s easy to look at Votto’s overall .202/.314/.433 slash and be underwhelmed, but a poor showing post-IL stint severely weighed down his production. Votto went hitless in 18 plate appearances before landing on the injured list, and he batted just .211/.362/.316 in 47 trips to the plate following his return. Overall, his season ended with a .164/.292/.236 swoon in 65 plate appearances.
Any team signing Votto will be hoping for better health. Doing so will require minimal financial risk in all likelihood, and Votto showed as recently as the 2021 season — his age-37 campaign — that he could produce far better than most hitters at this stage of their careers. That season saw him turn in an excellent .266/.375/.563 batting line and club 36 home runs, just one big fly shy of his career-high 37 set back in 2010. A rebound to that level of production at age 40 and with a recent shoulder surgery on his medical record might not be particularly feasible, but landing somewhere in the middle of his ’21 and his ’22-’23 output would still make Votto an above-average performer; when combining that 2021 production and his 2022-23 struggles, Votto still checks in with a .233/.344/.471 batting line (116 wRC+).
It’s been a quiet offseason with regard to Votto. The Blue Jays, as they have been for several years, have been tied to the Toronto native. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported recently that three teams were currently having some level of talks with the career .294/.409/.511 hitter.
There’s indeed a logical fit on the Jays, who saw Brandon Belt become a free agent at season’s end, and have a heavily right-handed lineup. Votto could share time at first base with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and see plenty of time as the designated hitter, where the Blue Jays currently don’t have a clear regular option. Other teams known to be on the lookout for help at first base and/or designated hitter include the D-backs, Twins, Padres and Marlins (to name a few). Injuries and/or trades within the Reds’ current infield corps could potentially clear a path back to Great American Ball Park, but for now Krall made clear that such an arrangement isn’t in the cards.
Given the likely low cost of signing Votto, it’s easy enough to speculate on him as a fit with upwards of half the league. Interest figures to be quite a bit more limited than that, given his age and recent struggles, but he represents a relatively low-risk signing who’s still only a couple years removed from a standout showing at the plate.
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