Once it became clear that Joey Votto would not be returning to the Cincinnati Reds next year, but wasn’t necessarily ready to hang ’em up, I will admit that I’ve given thought to how the Chicago Cubs could bring him on board.
I will also admit that, rather than it being a matter of a perfect opportunistic fit, a lot of my thinking has simply been as a fan. I just really like Votto. I like his attitude, his contemplativeness, his humor, and the way he carries himself on the field and whenever I hear him speak. I think it’s OK to admit that winning is 95% of what brings me happiness about being baseball-obsessed, but that other 5% – other avenues for enjoyment – still matters, too.
But does it matter enough that I think the Cubs should actually sign Joey Votto to a contract for his age-40 season? On a guaranteed deal with the expectation that he would draw some starts at first base?
That’s a much closer call for me.
I bring it up because the Cubs were discussed as a possible destination for Votto in a write-up from old friend Gordon Wittenmyer, who now covers the Reds in Cincinnati, and was trying to piece together where Votto might land:
“Within the Reds’ division, the aggressively-postured Chicago Cubs don’t have first base filled yet — though they’ve got their eye on a different lefty-slugging former MVP from another country for DH, reportedly pursuing Shohei Ohtani ….
‘It’s a joy to watch him hit. Whenever he comes to the plate I basically take my son and make him watch because I just feel his approach at the plate is so good,’ said Cubs president Jed Hoyer — who nonetheless declined to talk about any interest despite Votto’s huge career numbers at Wrigley Field and sounded like his focus was elsewhere.
‘I wouldn’t answer that question, but I do admire him,’ Hoyer said. ‘The line drive he was going to hit on pitch 8 just felt like it was an inevitability. I don’t know how many times in 12 years since I’ve been here how many at-bats I’ve had to watch that had that result.'”
Hoyer never comments on possible acquisitions, so this is as much as you’d get out of him about a guy.
Does Joey Votto actually make sense for the Cubs, though?
On the plus side, there is some veteran clubhouse value in a guy like Votto, who is so bright and so thoughtful about hitting. I guarantee he would bring some things to the Cubs’ group of hitters that they couldn’t necessarily get elsewhere. That’s not usually enough to justify carrying a guy, though, outside of perhaps a particularly grizzled back-up catcher.
Votto hit .202/.314/.433/98 wRC+ this past season after coming back from shoulder surgery, though the advanced metrics suggest he might’ve been a touch lucky overall. He was still handling fastballs reasonably well, but he struggled badly against breaking pitches, and, in turn, he saw a dramatic uptick in how many breaking pitches he faced. His barrel rate was reasonably solid, but it seems the non-barreled contact was particularly poor. Votto’s strikeout rate also stuck around that 25% level that is not egregiously bad, but doesn’t really work for him in the absence of more quality contact. Of specific concern, Votto’s line drive rate plummeted to just 11.0%, the lowest in baseball among anyone with at least 240 PAs. You will remember that Votto was one of the ELITE line drive hitters in baseball in his heyday (often eclipsing 30%, which is just nuts).
Maybe more concerningly in terms of a fit with the Cubs, Votto has not hit righties at all the last couple years, so you couldn’t really count on him as a platoon option at first base. Instead, you’d really have to pick your spots more carefully, which might not work if the Cubs wind up going with a mix-and-match approach again at first base (since you ALSO would have to really pick your spots with Patrick Wisdom and maybe Matt Mervis or Christopher Morel).
In a world where the Cubs settle on someone as the regular first baseman, I’m not sure Joey Votto is a great fit on the bench, either. There is no versatile defensive value there, so it would be entirely about the bat coming off the bench, and he hasn’t really been an above average hitter in a few years. I don’t know that you could project him to be a great bench bat in 2024.
It’s painful to acknowledge these things because, like I said, it would be so much fun to have Votto as part of the Cubs. And, look, if he is in a place where he just wants to give it a shot and accepts a minor league deal and a Spring Training invite? You have nothing to lose at that point, so go for it. I tend to really doubt he’s going to do that, though, outside of, perhaps, a return to the Reds or to play for his hometown Blue Jays.
I suppose the only crack in the door I’ll leave is that maybe the Cubs saw something in Votto’s swing that they DO think they can project for improvement in 2024 (at age 40 … ), and on a minimum deal, they think it’s worth the chance to bring him in as an option for first base (again, this would assume the Cubs don’t – for example – swing a trade for Pete Alonso, or sign Rhys Hoskins). Even that gives me a little heartburn, though, after things went so terribly at first base in 2023 using a “just try this veteran until Mervis is ready” approach. The Cubs are kind of squandering a key offensive spot by not ensuring they have a REAL bat at first base, as much as I might otherwise enjoy Votto’s presence.