Joey Votto's last (home)stand for Cincinnati Reds or new beginning for franchise icon?
NEW YORK — On his last night in New York before Sunday’s getaway day, Joey Votto took the 7 train back to the hotel from Citi Field and started planning his big final day in the city.
“I was thinking about watching video and talking to a technical confidante, a swing confidante,” said the guy who still takes the subway after all those years and all those millions earned as the Cincinnati Reds' biggest star since Barry Larkin.
The next day he delivered his first multi-hit game in a month.
“I still love what I do,” Votto said. “I’m thinking exclusively of that and to get better.”
Then he headed home for the Reds’ final homestand of the season.
Will this be Joey Votto's final homestand for the Reds?
Whether that homestand represents his final six games at Great American Ball Park (regular season, at least) he said he isn’t sure.
“I’m focused on today,” he said. “That’s where my head’s at.”
But barely a week after turning 40, he sounds and plays like a guy who wants to keep going and has more to offer a young team on a fast rise.
“Physically, I feel well. As far as going forward, it’s day-by-day,” said Votto, whose recent two-week return to the injured list to work on his surgically repaired shoulder has left feeling better than he has since coming back in June – “not even close.”
With 11 games left and October hopes hanging on every game as the Reds returned from a 4-2 road trip, Votto’s future with the Reds seems as uncertain as the team’s playoff fortunes – the final days of his franchise-record, 10-year contract upon him with a $20 million club option for next year looming.
“I have to perform, and we have to win as a group. I have to do my part,” he said on a quiet Sunday morning in the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field. “I haven’t decided anything other than trying to prepare on a daily basis and perform. Everything feels like a bit of a whirlwind after the injury last year.”
Joey Votto, Miguel Cabrera face each other one final time
It was 10 months from the shoulder and biceps surgery last year to his return June 19 to a young, suddenly competitive team and the kind of raucous crowds he hadn’t seen at Great American Ball Park in years.
“It’s funny. It feels like a long time, but it’s actually gone by so quickly,” Votto said. “And every day feels like a new day in terms of the information I’m getting from my body. I try hard not to get ahead of myself.
“There’s plenty of times when I’ve mulled things over or I’ve thought about the future,” he said. “But I try to check myself and get back on track with today, preparing for the game, preparing to compete and trying to get better. That’s where my head’s at.”
If his 40th birthday on Sept. 10 didn’t offer a reminder of how quickly things pass, Votto got another in Detroit during the first half of the recent road trip, when the Reds faced certain Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera for the final time. Votto represented the Reds in a pregame ceremony Thursday, presenting Cabrera with an engraved bat commemorating the former Triple Crown winner’s career with specific achievements against the Reds.
Two days before, in the series opener, Cabrera singled and after reaching first base gave Votto a warm embrace as Votto wished him well in his retirement.
“Every time we play, we talk a lot,” Cabrera said. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about him because one of my best friends, Jose Iglesias, played with him [in 2019].”
Stories about seeking perfection from himself in batting practice, and stories about how Votto treats teammates, Cabrera said.
“He’s a great baseball player. He’s a great human being,” Cabrera said. “I’m glad I played a lot of years against him. And I see a lot of greatness about him. He’s got my admiration. I respect him a lot.”
What Cabrera can’t do is offer much advice for Votto on the decision he already made for himself.
How will Votto's career end?
Cabrera, also 40, long ago announced this would be his final season, a decision he said he still feels certain about and at peace with – a decision his bad knees made for him as much as his mind.
“If I’m healthy, it would be hard to say goodbye to baseball,” Cabrera said. “Nobody knows how he’s feeling. So it depends how you’re feeling. And then you have to be honest with yourself. You want to play more or you want to stop?”
As Votto said, he still loves it. And this team, right now, he said, “It’s been really fun.”
Votto said much of the decision about next year is out of his hands. Cabrera suggested it shouldn’t be.
“I hope if he wants to play for a couple years, they say, ‘OK, let him play,’ because he does so much for Cincinnati, for the city. People have to appreciate what he did for a lot of years in Cincinnati.”
Reds general manager Nick Krall said it’s a discussion for after the season.
“We’re just going to see where we are going into the offseason and see what makes sense, Krall said. “We’ll just have to figure out where we are. He’s been a great player here for a long time, and I try to keep an open line of communication with him.
“I talked to him in spring training and then a little bit throughout the year just to see where he is,” Krall said. “Obviously he wants to play; that’s his focus right now. And we’ll just have to figure out what’s best at the end of the season.”
And if he’s healthy and productive these final two weeks, like he seems to be since the recent shoulder work?
“We’re just going to have to work through all of this and see where we are as an organization, who’s coming back, where we are and just kind of make a decision at that point,” the GM said.
Left unsaid: the possibility of a return that could involve the $7 million buyout of the option and a new contract — and ownership involvement in the process for somebody who has been the franchise’s definitive player of this century.
By contrast, 36-year-old Andrew McCutchen, the longtime Pittsburgh Pirate who returned to that organization this year, vowed to return from a season-ending Achilles injury, and Pirates GM Ben Cherington said he plans to work with McCutchen on a contract even before the rehab process.
“That’s their prerogative. That’s their relationship,” Votto said. “I’ve had a fantastic relationship with the Reds for 17 years and inside of two separate contracts going on 13 years.”
But that’s as far as he chooses to take it for now publicly.
“It’s an odd thing to do I feel like in the heart of a playoff race, so I don’t want to detract from anything going on inside of this clubhouse or on the field,” he said. “It’s been a stretch for the Reds fans to have their own group of guys, their own Cincinnati Reds-raised players to be successful on the field, to potentially do some cool things in September and October.
“And so any of that stuff with me,” he added, then paused briefly.
“There’s been moments where I’ve been tempted,” he said. “But I think it’s for the best at this point to just lock in on our team on a daily basis, and keep it about that.”
What Cincinnati Reds teammates say about Votto
Teammates don’t hesitate to weigh in.
“I want him back,” Matt McLain said.
McLain, who lockers near Votto in the Reds’ clubhouse, said he considers him a significant influence on the success he’s had during this rookie season.
“It’d be great to even have him around as a mentor and to help the guys that come up,” said pitcher Hunter Greene, the one Reds player under contract for next year, with a freshly signed, six-year, $53 million deal. “I’ve picked his brain a couple of times as a pitcher, just about the things he looks for as a hitter to help with my game.
“He brings a lot of value to this team. And this clubhouse.”
Guys in the clubhouse aren’t the only ones to seem to feel that way.
“He’s awesome,” Krall said. “I’ve known him for 20 years. He’s a great guy. He is a Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer. He should be a National Baseball Hall of Famer at some point. And he’s a tremendous representative of this organization.”
So what if Votto’s fountain of youthful energy with exciting young group and renewed strength leads to a decision to want to keep playing but the Reds prove less enthused about making the terms work?
Could Votto wind up actually playing for another team?
“I have no idea,” he said. “No idea. I would have limited control over that.
“It’s a two-way relationship.”
Can you imagine Votto playing for another franchise?
“No, I can’t,” Krall said.
So if he says he wants to keep playing?
“We’ll have to figure out where we are and what makes the most sense,” Krall said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto talk MLB future
