In a tough NL Central, the Cincinnati Reds may be a few years from contending. Should Joey Votto waive his no-trade clause?
The Cincinnati Reds are going through a process. Not a Philadelphia 76ers process, but a process nonetheless. Guys like Mat Latos, Johnny Cueto and Todd Frazier are all gone from a team that was in the Wild Card game back in 2013. In fact, if you look at the box score from that game, only Votto, Brandon Phillips and Zack Cozart remain.
Cozart and Phillips have been in trade rumors over the past year. In fact, if Phillips had waived his no trade clause, he would have been in Washington last season.
Speaking of no trade clauses, Votto isn’t going to waive his anytime soon.
"“I’ve never been the guy who has forced people’s hands,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard to not look [bad] in my career and I’ve worked really hard to be a loyal worker, and I’d like to keep that going. Until I feel like I’m being shuffled out, you saw [that] last year with Brandon [Phillips], you saw it in Philadelphia with Chase Utley. Until I start feeling like the broom is on my heels, I’ll be a really nice guy. If I feel the broom on my heels, I’ll be a bit of [a jerk]. I’m not going to be a nice guy.”"
From the Reds perspective, if they want to really accelerate their rebuild, Votto is their best piece to do that with. He led the NL in OBP and OPS+ and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting for the fourth time in his career. Votto has seven years at $179 million with an option for 2024 left on his deal. Yes, he’s 33 years old, and the Reds would probably have to kick in some money for him, but teams like the Rangers, Yankees and Blue Jays could all be fits and have prospects.
The Reds farm system has four Top 100 prospects according to MLBpipeline.com. The Reds don’t want to be in the below position either.
From Votto’s perspective, he doesn’t have to do anything. If he’s comfortable being a Red and wants to stay there he should. From a pure baseball standpoint, if he wants to win a ring anytime soon, he should leave if the right deal comes along.