Among Fergie Jenkins and Larry Walker stands Joey Votto as one of the greatest Canadian baseball players of all time.
Votto was born in Toronto, Ontario and grew up in Etobicoke, where he played for the Etobicoke Rangers baseball club. The Cincinnati Reds drafted Votto straight out of high school in 2002 with their second-round draft choice.
After playing a combined five seasons of college and minor league ball, Joey made his MLB debut in 2007 with the Reds and played the next 17 seasons with the team. He was an all-star in six of those seasons, hitting over .300 in eight of them and over 25 home runs in seven seasons, one of which was in 2021 at 37 years old.
But in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Votto’s play fell off significantly for the Reds and with a young star-studded team in Cincinnati, it was time for the team and Votto to part ways.
On Nov. 4th, 2023, Cincinnati declined Votto’s club option and released a farewell statement to the Reds legend. For the first time in his career, Votto was a free agent.
After a long offseason of remaining unsigned, Votto took to Instagram where he posted a photo of himself in distress on a park bench with the caption “missing ball”. Former Blue Jays star Jose Bautista commented on the post “Hometown team?” and many sports media companies noticed and started rumouring Votto would join the Blue Jays.
A couple of days later, Votto was invited to the Blue Jays spring training facility to train and on March 10th he signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays. Whether Votto makes the team out of spring training is still up in the air, but to have a Canadian player of his stature sign a minor league contract shows his love for Toronto and his dedication to the game. He could have signed a major league contract with a few other teams that were reportedly interested.
The second DH spot is currently up in the air as Votto and newly signed Daniel Vogelbach battle it out for the presumed last spot on the team. Vogelbach has been his usual self, hitting below the Mendoza line but crushing the ball when he makes contact. In 25 at-bats he has four hits, two of which have been home runs and an on-base percentage of .250. These numbers are not major league numbers, to say the least.
Votto has only made one appearance in spring training so far with his late arrival to the team. In his first at-bat, on the first pitch, he hit a home run to left center field, a display of his power and a great welcome home moment for Votto. Votto also brings a veteran presence for young Blue Jays players such as Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Votto is still a serviceable MLB bat that brings a lot of experience to the Blue Jays roster. Whether he makes the roster out of spring training is still yet to be decided, but it seems increasingly likely that Votto will be a Blue Jay at some point this season.