Best of luck to the future Hall of Famer.
I heard the scuttlebutt yesterday. I saw the social media posts. I was out of pocket for most of the day – a big reason why I didn’t get anything written about it sooner – but a large part of me wanted to wait until the teams and player involved made things official before trying to put the news, and the emotions, into words.
Joey Votto has officially signed a minor league deal with his hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays announced the news on the artist formerly known as Twitter on Saturday afternoon.
Etobicoke’s Own
Canada’s OwnOFFICIAL: We’ve signed 1B @JoeyVotto to a Minor League deal with an invite to #SpringTraining.
Votto is a 7x Tip O’Neill Award winner, 6x All-Star, 2011 Gold Glover, won the NL MVP in 2010, and has twice been named Canada’s Top Athlete. pic.twitter.com/wBiZqNlweS
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 9, 2024
The Cincinnati Reds, Votto’s former adopted hometown team, were not suprised, and followed up the announcement with a pre-prepared salute to Votto, who’ll go into Cooperstown one day wearing their uniform.
Joseph Daniel Votto, JDV, Vottomatic, JoVo, Still Bangs, Tokki 2, Joey Moppo, Employee No. 19.
The list goes on and on, but one thing is certain… the name Joey Votto will forever be etched in the history of this franchise pic.twitter.com/1Mqum1xryn
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 9, 2024
It was hard not to get a bit emotional watching that clip. It was just as hard not to get emotional back in September when it became oh so clear that his time with the Reds was over. For an era of Reds fans, Votto has been not just the lone mainstay for a franchise that has stepped on its own shoelaces time and time again, but also the lone beacon that we statheads could point to as the club dragged its feet on the evolution of the game.
Had been. He had been the lone mainstay. I’ll apologize now for that, and it probably won’t be the last time I make that clerical error.
I wish Joey the absolute best of luck in his new endeavor, where he’ll suit up in Dunedin as part of a return to Grapefruit League action. You’ll recall he spent time with the springtime Reds club in Sarasota back in 2006-2008 before the club moved to Goodyear, Arizona and the Cactus League. For the first time in over 15 years, he’ll get the chance to reprise that role and, we all hope, earn a role on a Toronto club that’s poised to make a big push for the playoffs this year as their young core inches ever closer to mass free agency.
Hope like hell it works out, Joey. Show the world that shoulder’s healthy once again.