Joey Votto deserves better than this Cincinnati Reds sell-off

Entering his 16th season as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, Joey Votto is one of the game’s premier hitters and underrated stars. He has played in a total of 11 postseason games, and it’s a distinct possibility that, with Votto’s contract and the current teardown of the Cincinnati Reds, that number may not get any higher.

Cincinnati continued its stripping of its roster on Monday, shipping off a pair of players with All-Star appearances on their resumes in Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suárez to the Seattle Mariners. The Reds have also in the past week traded off starting pitcher Sonny Gray, and started the offseason with a pair of other baffling moves.

And here’s the thing: There could be more trades to come with rumors of starting pitchers Tyler Mahle and Luis Castillo potentially leaving the Queen City as well.

You’ll forgive Joey Votto if he wanders into the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse like John Travolta looking around the room in “Pulp Fiction,” wondering exactly what is going on.

The times, they are a-changin’ in Cincinnati, and not for the best. After all, this is a team that, with the new MLB postseason format now in place, could have been shooting for a spot in October had it kept all of its pieces rather than decide the price for success was just too high and selling off its well-running car of a roster for parts.

Enter Votto, who was asked about the changes to the roster by MLB.com for this article, talked about the “adjustment” that was to come as the clubhouse changed.

"“It’s certainly an adjustment,” Votto said. “You develop relationships with these people. You wish them well in the same uniform. You get to know their families and get to know them as men. Then pretty instantly, they’re in a different uniform and you have to adjust, of course. I can say two different things. You have to accept that as part of this business, part of this process. But you can also be disappointed and miss them, remember the good times with them and wish them well.”"

Votto gets this is a business, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it … or even stick around.

If Cincinnati does anything right to try to counter-balance what has been a negative offseason, it will find a way to send Votto to a team that can use him in their lineup to win a World Series. Votto can stay in Cincinnati and continue to break Reds records, or the Reds can do the right thing (for Votto and MLB fans in general) and let one of the game’s top hitters not dry up on the vine for a team that will compete for the bottom of the National League Central instead of the top.

Votto is owed $25 million each for the 2022 and 2023 seasons as his 10-year, $225 million deal comes to a close. For a franchise that seems enamored with cutting costs, Cincinnati should take a cue from its own recent actions and find a team that would be willing to bring on Votto for a run at postseason glory.

Cincinnati has gone the wrong direction with its roster for several weeks now in an effort to save money. The Reds should, for once, do the right thing and let Votto go.