Now former Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto has signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that includes an invite to big league spring training. After spending more than two decades as a Red from the time he was drafted back in the second round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft until the end of the 2023 season, Votto will now officially be a player for another organization.

The deal for Votto is for $2,000,000 if he makes the team. He can also make another $2,000,000 in incentives according to MLB.com reporter Keegan Matheson.

Votto, who signed a long term extension with Cincinnati that kept him a Reds player through at least 2023, saw the club decline his option following the year and instead of paying him $20,000,000 to return to the club they paid him $7,000,000 to leave.

A league average hitter in 2023 (his .747 OPS translated to a 99 OPS+), Votto had troubles finding a job this past offseason. While he’s still gotten on base enough, and he’s had just enough power the last two seasons while dealing with a shoulder injury and then the recovery from surgery to repair his shoulder and biceps injury, he’s struggled to hit for average – hitting .205 and .202 in the last two seasons.

Understandable given that he was playing with a busted rotator cuff and a torn biceps muscle in 2022 and coming off of the surgery in 2023. Still, Votto is now 40-years-old and is coming off of back-to-back subpar years for a first baseman and an injury. While he has made sure to publicly state over and over again that the injury isn’t an excuse, we can all be real here and say that yeah it was, Joey. Teams, though, are also going to see a 40-year-old who’s struggled a bit in the last few seasons – injury or not.

For Votto, after spending all winter seeking a job, he’s settled for an opportunity rather than a guarantee. Taking a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays – his hometown team – gives him an opportunity to get on the field over the next few weeks and show what he’s got as he’s further out from the surgery and rehab process.

It would be nice to see Joey Votto get another opportunity in the big leagues after the way that his 2023 season came to an end. In his final game as a Cincinnati Red he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes following his first plate appearance in the final game of the year. It was also the first plate appearance he had in nearly a week. That’s not how you want a legend to end his big league career.