This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Baseball can be cruel when it comes to the final act, but Joey Votto wants to write his own.
Everyone wants to go out like Joe DiMaggio, emptying the tank to win one more ring for the only organization they’ve ever known, but those careers are rare. More common are the stories of superstars who, understanding their best years may be behind them, still chase one more moment in the sun.
You don’t even need to stretch back much further than the last decade in Toronto. Will we remember José Bautista playing his last game with the Phillies? Edwin Encarnación with the White Sox? Josh Donaldson with the Brewers?
Votto will always be a Red. If he’s inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame -- and he should be -- he’ll go in wearing that Cincinnati ‘C’ on his cap. But if one of the greatest careers of this generation had to continue anywhere else, where better than Toronto? One of the greatest Canadian players in baseball history is coming home at 40, and regardless of how unlikely a storybook ending is, just the chance of it is so alluring.
“Yeah, it’s a cool story, but it’s not just like, ‘Hey, Joey, come up to Canada and retire,’” said manager John Schneider. “There’s some real baseball stuff there, too. It will be cool for a day or two to talk about Joey in Toronto, but the baseball part of it is what we’re looking at.”
Votto seems determined to keep this door from closing on him, and if he does, it will be the story of the season. Here’s how it all stands over the weekend, after Votto arrived at the Blue Jays’ complex early Saturday morning.
What needs to happen
Votto needs to hit. It’s really that simple.
The Blue Jays have enough depth at first base behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr., including Daniel Vogelbach, No. 16 prospect Spencer Horwitz and veteran Justin Turner, who can slide over for the odd game. None of these names will do much to change the Blue Jays’ defensive or baserunning profile, and it’s not about that. It’s all about who hits.
Votto doesn’t have a full camp to work with. It’s barely half a camp at this point, but a .409 on-base percentage over 17 MLB seasons suggests he doesn’t need 100 at-bats here. If Votto can prove his timing is in the right place, then he’s got a shot at Opening Day.
How this affects other Blue Jays
Before the news broke, the Blue Jays spoke with Vogelbach to let him know it was coming. He’s putting together a nice camp, too, and the Blue Jays want to see this play out.
“It doesn’t affect him, really,” Schneider said of Vogelbach. “It doesn’t affect him much. Just continue to do what you’re doing. The timing of everything is a little bit different with Joey coming in at this point. Vogey was great. He was on board. He knows how the game works and when you’re adding a player like Joey, everyone understands that. For Vogey, just continue to do what you’re doing. It really, at this time, doesn’t overlap with Joey … unless that changes in a week. But Vogey was great with us adding him.”
Translation? It’s fluid. Vogelbach has the reps and is ramped up further than Votto in camp, but we’ll see where the next seven days take us.
This could have more of an impact on Horwitz, who entered camp with some momentum to fight for a roster spot but has now seen two veterans come in at his position. Horwitz is an on-base machine whom the Blue Jays would love to see hit for more power, and on another MLB club, he might be closer to big league playing time. As of March 10, though, he’s behind the two veterans and looking at a start at Triple-A Buffalo.
Will it work?
For Votto to get back to the big leagues, the likeliest path could include a brief stop in Buffalo. This wouldn’t be your traditional “Minor League assignment” by any means, but something done to extend his Spring Training in a way. The Blue Jays also have their Player Development Complex and plenty of “able bodies” who can throw to Votto, as Schneider put it.
The odds are against Votto here, but that’s what makes it all so fascinating. After so many years of Blue Jays fans pining for him, the Canadian great is suddenly the most interesting story in camp.