Joey Votto, six-time MLB All-Star and former NL MVP retires from baseball after incredible 17-year career

Former NL MVP and six-time All-Star Joey Votto announced his retirement from baseball Wednesday. 

The Toronto-born Votto signed a minor league contract with his hometown team in March and, following a lengthy layoff because of an ankle injury, had been playing at Triple-A Buffalo. He went 6 for 42 with one homer and four RBIs in 15 games, striking out 22 times.

The 40-year-old first baseman became a free agent last fall following the end of a $251.5 million, 12-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds, his only team over 17 major league seasons. Cincinnati declined Votto's $20 million option for 2024.

'That's it, I'm done. I'm officially retired from baseball,' Votto declared to his fans in a short clip from outside Sahlen Field, home of the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays.

'Thank you to my parents, Wendy and Joe, for giving me everything I needed to fulfill my dream of becoming a professional baseball player,' he added in a statement written in the caption. 

Former NL MVP and six-time All-Star Joey Votto announced his retirement from baseball

The Toronto-born Votto signed a minor league contract with his hometown team in March

'Thank you to my brother, Tyler Votto, for throwing me wiffle balls for all those years (ha ha, you are the best. I had to write this.).' 

'The Etobicoke community for supporting me as a youth player,' he continued. 'Oakville, Queensway, Kingsway, Bloordale, Thunderbirds, and Bob Smyth and the Etobicoke Rangers for raising me as a youth baseball player. Mark Capone is STILL better.

'As a pro, Leon Roberts and Freddie Benavides were my guys. They made me who I was as a pro player. Thank you to them!

'As a major league player, Dusty Baker and Scott Rolen taught me how to be a pro’s pro.'

The Blue Jays were hosting the Reds on Wednesday in the finale of a three-game series.

The 2010 NL MVP and a Gold Glove winner in 2011, Votto hit .294 with 356 home runs and 1,144 RBI in 2,056 games.

A shoulder injury limited Votto to 65 games in 2023. He didn´t play his first game until June 19, 10 months to the day after surgery on his left biceps and rotator cuff.

Votto homered off Philadelphia´s Zack Wheeler in his only spring training at-bat for Toronto on March 17. He stepped on a bat in the dugout later in that game and was sidelined for the next three months.