Joey Votto he’s out of baseball. The first baseman, who had a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, announced his retirement on Instagram Wednesday evening. He didn’t make it to the majors with his hometown team but played an impressive 17-year career with the Reds.
Votto gave a lengthy statement alongside a short video of himself from Sahlen Field, the home of the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. Votto thanked his family, teammates and coaches, and fans. He expressed regret that he couldn’t make it to the big leagues with the Jays, adding that he’s “not good anymore” before thanking Canadian fans for supporting him and expressing his love for Cincinnati. “I was in this game too. I was able to be my best self. I played this game with all my body, heart, and mind. Thank you for everything,” he concluded.
The Reds drafted Votto out of Toronto’s prep school in 2002. He was already one of the top 50 players in Baseball America by the time he reached Triple-A five years later. Votto was first drafted in September of ’07. He hit a home run in 24 games and would break out as their everyday first baseman the following year.
Votto hit .297/.368/.506 with 24 homers and 32 doubles in his first full season. He finished second in the Cub Hunter Geovany Soto in Rookie of the Year voting. Votto emerged as an elite hitter in year two, hitting .322/.414/.567 with 25 long balls and 38 doubles. He finished in the top 10 among qualifiers in all three slash stats.
That started nearly a decade ago when Votto was one of the best players in the game. He had arguably his best season in 2010. Votto led the majors with a .424 on-base percentage and topped the National League even with a .600 mark. He hit .324 with 37 homers and a career-best 113 runs batted in. It was a commanding performance in counting and calculating alike that earned him a convincing victory. Albert Pujols again Carlos González in the NL MVP voting. Votto was a key player on a Cincinnati team that won 91 games and the NL Central title.
It was the first of four consecutive seasons in which a left-handed hitter led the NL in on-base percentage. He led the league in walks every year from 2011-13. His uncharacteristically patient approach at times earned him criticism from some fans who preferred him to be aggressive, but Votto also filled the role of the prototypical run producer. He ranked 20th in RBI and 21st in homers among MLB hitters from 2010-13. Among hitters with 1500+ plate appearances, only Miguel Cabrera again Joe Mauer hit to get a better rate. Votto led the majors in OBP and ranked seventh in slugging. Votto made the All-Star Game in all four seasons and three times finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. Cincinnati made the playoffs in three of those years, though they never advanced to the Division Series.
In the middle of that run, the Reds committed to Votto as the face of their franchise. They signed him to a 10-year, $225MM extension at the start of the 2012 season. It remains the largest investment in the organization’s history. While the team hasn’t had a ton of success this decade, it’s not the fault of their first baseman. He remained a regular until the end of the contract.
Four injuries ended much of Votto’s 2014 campaign. He returned at full strength the following year, hitting .314/.459/.541 to finish third for MVP. He would lead the NL in on-base percentage in each of the three seasons after that, earning more than 10 MVP finishes in the process. From 2015-18, he hit .312/.442/.525 with 106 homers while walking more than he struck out.
The 2018 season was the last of Votto’s six All-Star campaigns. His production plateaued during 2019-20 and it appeared that he had firmly entered the decline phase of his career. Although that was the case to some extent, Votto had one very good year ahead of him. He rebounded with an impressive 36 homer blast (tied for second most in any season) with a .266/.375/.563 slash in 2021. That was his last solid season, as he found a replacement. level numbers while battling shoulder problems between 2022-23.
Votto earned a well-deserved ovation from Cincinnati fans in his final game at Great American Ball Park last September. The guaranteed part of his contract expired and the Reds made an obvious call to buy him instead of the expensive club option for 2024. Votto signed a minor league deal with the Jays during the only free agent tour of his career. He suffered an ankle injury in his first game of Spring Training, which kept him out of the IL in July. Votto returned to action within a month but hit .143 in 15 Triple-A contests before deciding it was time to move on.
While that keeps him from ever appearing in a Jays uniform at Rogers Center, it allows him to retire after spending his entire MLB career with one team. He is one of the best players in Reds history and is among the best players in league history. Votto will surely benefit from a deeper Hall of Fame when his name appears on the ballot in five years.
By Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric (designed to provide a point of comparison for players against Hall of Famers), Votto ranks 12th among first basemen. 11 players above him are in the Hall of Fame or, in the cases of Pujols and Cabrera, locks for induction if they are eligible for the first time. The player behind Votto, Rafael Palmeirohe is not in the Hall, mainly because of his association with energy-enhancing drugs. The following three players – Willie McCovey, Todd Helton again Eddie Murray – all are allowed.
Votto did not provide the level of power associated with a Hall of Fame first baseman. He has 356 homers (29th in the nation) and 1144 runs scored (49th). That’s no small feat for most players, of course, but Votto’s overall success was largely driven by his grounded ability. He finishes his career with a .294 average and a .409 on-base percentage. He led the NL in runs scored seven times.
Although Votto surprisingly never won the Silver Slugger Award – overlapping in the NL with Pujols and Paul Goldschmidt in his prime he played a role – he had six top 10 MVPs. He won the Golden Glove in 2011 and the aforementioned MVP honor the year before. Baseball Reference values Votto’s career at about 64 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs gives him 59 WAR. That’s when players usually receive official Hall of Fame consideration.
Votto will certainly have offers to stay involved in the game if he wishes to do so. He’s rounded out his on-field accomplishments with a mind-blowing style and sardonic wit that will no doubt lend itself to coaching or media opportunities if he wants to take them. Votto was tight-lipped in his retirement announcement about any future plans. We at MLBTR congratulate him on an outstanding career and wish him the best in his post-playing days.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
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