After a five-month wait, it’s almost decision time for the Blue Jays and potential Hall of Famer Joey Votto.
Votto, who missed most of this season because of a lingering ankle injury, has been playing regularly at Triple-A Buffalo for the better part of two weeks. The Jays are approaching the point where they need to call him up or bring his situation to a close.
If the Jays didn’t have any intention of promoting Votto, one assumes they would have communicated that already. There would have been no point in having a player with Votto’s resumé go through a lengthy rehab and play an extended stretch of minor-league games unless a return was realistic. That means a promotion should still be possible.
The logical date would be Monday, when the Jays host his former club, the Cincinnati Reds.
A return like that would represent a full-circle moment for Votto, suiting up for his hometown team against the only big-league organization he had previously known.
This week in Deep Left Field, we are joined by honest-to-goodness Canadian rock royalty.
To be clear, the recent numbers don’t justify it. Votto homered in his third game for the Bisons, but he was hitting .148 in 27 at-bats heading into Thursday night and isn’t in peak form. Another downside would be taking plate appearances away from young players and handing them to a 40-year-old who surely won’t be back in 2025.
So yes, it’s gimmicky, but what’s the harm? Votto is the greatest ballplayer the Greater Toronto Area has ever produced. He ranks alongside Larry Walker as Canada’s best position player of all time. If he wants to go out playing with the team he grew up cheering for, so be it.
The return just needs to be done in such a way that it doesn’t hamper younger teammates. One scenario would see Votto take the spot of Steward Berroa, who isn’t a priority. Votto could then start occasionally at first base or designated hitter when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is used at third.
An alignment like that would ensure Spencer Horwitz, Will Wagner and Joey Loperfido still get all the at-bats they can handle. It would only occasionally cut into the playing time of Ernie Clement, who’s enjoying a fine season but, at age 28, is no longer a prospect.
Votto’s comeback didn’t go as once hoped, but he has stuck it out for this long in the minors. There’s no real downside in a non-competitive team such as the Jays rewarding him with a promotion as long as it’s handled properly.
The suggestion here is to call up Votto for the Reds series and make him a part-time player, giving the local legend the graceful exit he deserves.
Dollars and cents
One logical reason for not calling up Votto would be if his salary puts the Jays over the competitive balance tax threshold. Team president Mark Shapiro recently confirmed the Jays got under the tax at the trade deadline, but conceded the situation could change via waiver claims and roster moves.
If Votto is promoted on Monday, there would be 23 per cent of the season remaining. He would be owed about $460,000 of his $2-million (U.S.) contract.
Exceeding the tax for a glorified retirement party wouldn’t make much sense. The Jays would owe 30 per cent on all overages, but more crucially they would also lose an additional draft pick and international spending money if they sign a qualified free agent.
The exact details of the Jays’ tax situation aren’t publicly available, only rough estimates. It’s possible they already have enough room to absorb Votto’s salary. If they don’t, exposing pitcher Ryan Yarbrough to waivers and hoping another team takes what remains of his $3.9-million salary would be one way to free up the necessary cash.
On a special Monday episode of Deep Left Field, we catch up with injured pitcher Alek Manoah on
The Kikuchi fix
Complaints out of Houston about the cost to acquire pitcher Yusei Kikuchi from the Jays have started to disappear. Kikuchi is 2-0 and has yet to allow more than two earned runs while striking out 24 across three starts.
The Houston media credited an uptick in Kikuchi’s changeup usage as a driving factor. Those reports drew some complaints from the Jays fan base, which questioned why something similar hadn’t been tried before.
The thing is, Kikuchi’s career has always been up and down. One month he looks great, the next not so much. The Jays tinkered with his mechanics and pitch mix all the time, just like the Seattle Mariners did before. The changes usually work for a bit, and then more adjustments are required.
If there’s one man on the Jays staff who deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s Pete Walker. The veteran pitching coach has been in his role since 2013 and has a long list of success stories to fall back on. Walker deserves credit for turning Kikuchi into one of the top pitchers available at this year’s deadline, not criticism for whatever happens in Houston.
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