Joey Votto reported he agreed to a minor league deal with the Blue Jays. This returns Votto to his home country.

“I am excited about the opportunity to work my way back to the Major Leagues. It’s even sweeter to attempt this while wearing the uniform of my hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays,” Votto wrote Friday on X.

Chron.com

It’s a nice move by the Blue Jays, and I suspect at some point he will play first base for the MLB club and then retire. Votto produced very high BABIPs during his career, but in three of his last four season they were below .260. Couple that with a rising strikeout rate, and Votto just didn’t produce much offense.

I do suspect he could help the younger Blue Jays hitters with a bit of coaching. If Votto does retire, I wonder if the Blue Jays would keep him as a coach.