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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
Former MVP Joey Votto, who has been openly pleading for an opportunity to play in recent weeks, agreed to a minor-league deal with a Toronto Blue Jays, according to industry sources.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Votto indicated on the ESPN exhibition broadcast Thursday that he would do whatever was required of him to get another chance at playing again. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get back on a major-league field,” Votto said, in an appearance via Zoom.
I am excited about the opportunity to work my way back to the Major Leagues. It’s even sweeter to attempt this while wearing the uniform of my hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays. https://t.co/s7xEFLKe8V
— Joey Votto (@JoeyVotto) March 8, 2024
The Jays are giving that chance to Votto, a Canada native raised in Toronto. His home is 25 minutes from the Jays’ park.
Votto, 40, played 17 seasons for the Cincinnati Reds, earning six All-Star appearances and winning the NL MVP; throughout his career, he has been a consistent source of on-base percentage and power. When his contract with the Reds expired at the end of last season, Votto moved into free agency, but for weeks, he was unable to find a landing spot. Votto struggled the last two seasons, batting .205 in 2022 and .202 in 2023, but he felt he was still recovering from major shoulder surgery that ended his ’02 season. As he explained in a recent conversation on the Baseball Tonight podcast,, Votto feels healthy for the first time in years, and has been able to work out.
It’s not immediately clear what the Blue Jays have in mind for Votto, but given that he’s joining the organization three weeks into the start of spring training, it would not be surprising if he begins the season in the minor leagues, giving Votto a chance to work his way back to game speed – and to give the Jays a chance to evaluate his comeback.
Toronto did not re-sign the left-handed hitting Brandon Belt in the winter, and the Jays appear to be in need of lefties in their batting order, to balance the right-handed hitting Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and others. The left-handed hitting Daniel Vogelbach is in the Jays’ camp, as is veteran switch-hitter Eduardo Escobar.