The Milwaukee Brewers were challenged by the Cincinnati Reds this season. Cincinnati relied heavily upon several young players both in the field and on the mound They were a fun team to keep track of and at one point they were in first place of the National League Central for 26 days.
Among the group of younger players the core is headlined by Elly De La Cruz. However, a pair of first basemen in Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand also emerged. Going forward this is leaving one former MVP, who also has a large contract option looming, on the outside looking in of playing time in 2024.
Milwaukee Brewers rival Joey Votto may be on the verge of a “breakup” with the Cincinnati Reds.
Joey Votto previously signed a 10 year, $225 MM deal with the Cincinnati Reds. He was the MVP of the league in 2010, in the running eight other times, elected to six All-Star games, and has one gold glove award. Now he has a $20 MM option for 2024 that includes a $7.00 MM buyout.
According to Bob Nightengale’s latest notebook the two sides are nearing a breakup. He reports that Cincinnati has no interest in picking up his option and that Joey Votto similarly does not want a part time role. This could lead to each side parting ways this off-season and for the first time in 17 years Joey Votto putting on a different uniform.
It will be interesting to see what the Reds elect to do with Joey Votto. $7.00 MM is not a small buyout, but their former face of the franchise wasn’t the same player once he returned from shoulder surgery last season. He displayed some pop in his bat, but the contact oriented get a base hit approach was not there. Overall he had a .202 batting average across 65 games with 14 home runs and a career high 25.6% strikeout rate.
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