MLB News: Joey Votto has been wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform for the past 17 years. After years of impressive seasons including six All-Star appearances, a gold glove award, and one league MVP award, the two sides have broken up.
The Reds and Votto’s break up hinged upon the fact that he had a $20 MM option for 2024 and that he also wanted every day playing time. Cincinnati was unable to commit to this, paid him $7 million to buy out his option year, and made him a free agent.
Former Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto dismally compares free agency to a 2013 science fiction movie (MLB News).
It has been nearly two months since Joey Votto became a free agent and he is yet to sign with a ball club for the 2024 season. For a player that has known that he will have a spot on a big league roster for nearly the last two decades this off-season imaginably has been a lot different for him and filled with uncertainty.
Recently Votto spoke out on MLB free agency and he compared it to a 2013 movie titled Gravity. The movie features Sandra Bullock as a medical engineer in space and when her first mission goes wrong George Clooney has to save her.
“Being a free agent is like that scene from Gravity where Sandra Bullock detaches from the Explorer. You’re all alone, no one is answering your calls, and you don’t know if you’ll get back to base. Your only hope is George Clooney saving you. Save me, George.”
-Joey Votto
As comical and upbeat as Joey Votto typically is this post has a sad tune to it. At 40 years old it is not a guarantee that a team will sign him to a MLB deal. Only time will tell for sure, but for now Votto is casting out a line for help and speaking out on how tough this off-season has been.
Follow me on Twitter @tylerkoerth. Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great sports content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!. We cover the Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers, Milwaukee Milkmen, and Wisconsin High School Sports. Additionally we provide the latest news coverage on the NFL, MLB, and NBA
