Veteran first baseman Joey Votto intends to play at least one more season, he said Friday during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show according to the show's executive producer Paul Pabst. Votto added that he's open to playing for another team if the Cincinnati Reds elect to move on.
In theory, the Reds could always sign Votto to a new contract with a lower wage, therefore allowing them to save money while retaining his services. In practice, that kind of sequence seldom happens in Major League Baseball.
Votto, 40, has spent the entirety of his professional career with the Reds organization. His contract includes a club option worth $20 million next season that the Reds seem unlikely to exercise. Instead, Cincinnati's front office will ostensibly buy out his option for $7 million, resulting in a net gain of $13 million that they can then use to upgrade the roster elsewhere.
Votto was limited to just 65 games this season by injury. He batted .202/.314/.433 (99 OPS+) across 242 plate appearances. He has not finished on the sunny side of a park-adjusted league-average OPS since 2021.
Should this represent the end of Votto's time in Cincinnati, it comes to a close after 17 highly productive seasons. He's hit .294/.409/.511 (144 OPS+) for his career with 356 home runs, 1,144 RBI, and an estimated 64.4 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference. Votto appeared in six All-Star Games and won both a Gold Glove Award and the 2010 National League Most Valuable Player Award.
The Reds, for their part, have an abundance of talented young infielders. They finished this season with an 82-80 record, putting them on the cusp of making the playoffs for the first time in a regulation length season since 2013.
