Joey Votto: Once more, with feeling.
After 17 seasons in Cincinnati, the 2010 NL MVP has signed with his hometown Blue Jays on a minor league deal.
Last week, Joey Votto, in his ever-humorous way, posted a photo on Instagram.
Sitting on park bench next to his bat, forlorn and eating what was, possibly, the rest of a grilled cheese sandwich.
“Missing ball”, the caption said.
It didn’t last.
Officially confirmed over the weekend, Votto, after 17 years with the Cincinnati Reds, has signed a minor league deal with Toronto.
It is a natural homecoming for the first baseman, who grew up in the Toronto neighbourhood of Mimico, cheering for the Blue Jays during their World Series years in the early 1990s. And now, with spring training already underway, Votto has joined the team in Florida, looking to work his way onto the roster.
Things are never that simple, though.
The reality is, there are no guarantees that Votto, who turned 40 last September, will even make the team - something he has made sure to acknowledge:
I’m just excited to take this challenge on… I’m on a Minor League contract. I’m in Major League camp. I’m what’s called a non-roster invite. I’m not on the Major league roster… I may never play a game for the Toronto Blue Jays. I may never wear a Major League uniform again, but this is my opportunity to give it a shot.
It is a straightforward honesty we don’t hear that often from athletes in similar situations, baseball especially - those in their twilight years who, for a variety of reasons, from age and injuries to substandard play, simply aren’t able to maintain their previous level as their career concludes.
There have been exceptions, of course but Votto’s bluntness is particularly striking, decreased production notwithstanding, considering his stature.
Not just one of the best players of his generation but someone who has, over nearly two decades, cemented himself as an all-timer in the sport.
As of this writing, only 41 other players, per Baseball Reference, have a higher career On-Base-Percentage (OBP) then Joey Votto, who is 42nd-all-time (just two other active players are above him on that list - Mike Trout is 33rd all-time and Juan Soto is 19th).
It speaks to the year-over-year consistency that, at his peak, he made his calling card.
A well-honed combination of historic vision, discipline and power (with three 30-plus homer seasons and currently the active hits leader with 2,135 over his career thus far).
Drafted by the Reds directly out of hight school in 2002, Votto would spend the better part of five years in their minor league system, slowly developing his game, before becoming an everyday player in 2008 - and immediately making an impact.
Sure, at the glance, you’re drawn to the bigger picture: he was the National League MVP in 2010 and won a Gold Glove the following year. Six total top-ten MVP finishes. A six-time All-Star.
His game though, really, has never been about the base accolades or the raw counting stats (even if, for a minute there, it seemed possible that he had an outside shot at 400 home runs).
Instead, he made his mark, most notably, as something that has become increasingly rare in this, the “three true outcomes” era: a pure hitter, albeit, one more than willing to experiment with his approach as his career has progressed (from completely revamping his batting stance or utilizing heavier analytics to maximize every AB).
During his time in the National League, Votto led the Senior Circuit in OBP seven times and MLB as a whole, four times (tremendous company that includes only five other players: Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby and Barry Bonds).
However you slice it or the rest of his offensive profile, those are Hall of Fame numbers.
But time waits for no one, athletes, in particular.
As Sportnet’s Jeff Blair noted on Monday, Votto’s last few seasons have seen a downturn from his career norms, his production dipping, amidst struggles with significant injuries.
While his 2021 season was something of a resurgence (36 home runs, a .938 OPS and finishing 16th in MVP voting) he is, as expected, simply no longer the player he was a decade ago.
And then, there is the whole veneer of an accomplished player “coming home” for what is, ultimately a glorified, if deserved and yet-to-be-confirmed victory lap (Votto, to his credit, has embraced it in earnest, speaking openly about potentially playing some of his season in Triple-A Buffalo).
In the grand scheme of things though, his arrival, if it does come to pass, was never going to move the needle in any significant way.
Just as they were back in October, Toronto is still facing big questions as 2024 looms. Matt Chapman is gone. Can Vladimir Guerrero Jr, if healthy come Opening Day (it was announced on Tuesday that he has a knee contusion) find a way to recapture his 2021-era form? And how much confidence, really, can be placed in the rotation until the games start to matter?
And so on.
But Votto, if he does end up continuing his career in Toronto, is just 26 hits and 27 home runs away from breaking Larry Walker’s all-time MLB records for a Canadian-born player. Yeah, the Blue Jays have “more important” World Series aspirations but there is something to be said for that possibility - one of Canada’s all-time baseball talents, further etching his name into the history books. With the country’s lone MLB team, no less.
One final stop before he heads to Cooperstown.
Now, maybe it is not to be.
Maybe Votto (and the Jays brass both) reach the end of spring training and realize it is best for all parties if this homecoming never moves past the preliminary stage. And that’s just fine - it shouldn’t diminish his career nor what he has accomplished.
Or maybe, he turns back the clock the way Albert Pujols did during his final season in 2022 or follows Miguel Cabrera’s trajectory last year - flashes of greatness, while being more of a mentor than an everyday player.
Either way, it seems Votto is intent on going out on his own terms, whatever the particulars shake out to be.
And you can’t begrudge him for that.