Joey Votto has abandoned baseball.

On Wednesday evening, the star first baseman, who had been with the Blue Jays on a minor league contract, posted an announcement about his retirement on Instagram. He played for the Reds for 17 years, but his hometown team never reached the major leagues. Along with a brief video of him leaving Sahlen Field, the home of the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, Votto released a lengthy statement. Votto expressed gratitude to the fans, his family, and various former coaches and teammates. Before thanking the Canadian fanbase for their support and expressing his love for Cincinnati, he expressed some regret that he was unable to make it to the big leagues with the Jays. He also stated that he is “just not good anymore” and added that he is “just not good anymore.” “In this sport, I was myself. I could be the best version of me. I gave this sport my heart, soul, and every ounce of my body. He said, “Thank you for everything.” In 2002, the Reds selected Votto from a prep school in Toronto. When he reached Triple-A five years later, he had already established himself as one of Baseball America’s top 50 prospects. In 2007, Votto made his debut as a September call-up. He started his first 24 games strong and would become their primary first baseman the following year. In his first full season, Votto hit.297/.368/.506 with 24 home runs and 32 doubles. In the voting for Rookie of the Year, he came in second place behind Cubs catcher Geovany Soto. By the second season, Votto had hit.322/.414/.567 with 25 home runs and 38 doubles. In each of the three slash statistics, he placed in the top ten among qualifiers. That marked the beginning of Votto’s nearly ten-year run as one of the game’s best players. 2010 was unquestionably his best season. With a.424 on-base percentage and an even.600 slugging percentage, Votto topped the National League and the major leagues. He hit.324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBI, a career high. He prevailed over Albert Pujols and Carlos González in the NL MVP voting thanks to a dominating performance in both rate and counting stats. On a Cincinnati team that won 91 games and the NL Central title, Votto was the best player. The lefty hitter had topped the NL in on-base percentage for the first time in four seasons. From 2011 to 2013, he topped the league in walks every year. Votto also played a typical run producer role, despite the fact that some fans preferred him to be more aggressive due to his exceptionally patient approach. Between 2010 and 2013, he ranked among MLB hitters 20th in RBI and 21st in home runs. Only Joe Mauer and Miguel Cabrera had higher averages among hitters with more than 1500 plate appearances. Votto had the best OBP in the majors and was seventh in slugging. Votto finished in the top 10 in MVP voting three times and made the All-Star Game in each of the four seasons. Three of those years saw Cincinnati reach the postseason, but they never went beyond the Division Series. The Reds made a commitment to Votto as their brand’s face midway through that run. They gave him a $225 million, ten-year contract early in the 2012 season. It is still the organization’s largest investment to date. The first baseman was not to blame for the team’s lack of success over the past decade. Until the contract’s end, he remained a power hitter. The majority of Votto’s 2014 campaign was lost due to a quad injury. The following year, he returned fully healthy and hit.314/.459/.541 to finish third in MVP voting. After that, he would finish second in the National League in on-base percentage in each of the subsequent three seasons, resulting in two additional top-10 MVP finishes. He hit.312/.442/.525 with 106 home runs between 2015 and 2018, walking more than striking out. Votto’s six All-Star seasons ended with the 2018 campaign. Between 2019 and 2021, his production slowed down, and it appeared as though he was well into the career decline phase. Even though that was true to some extent, Votto still had one excellent year to go. In 2021, he rebounded with an unexpected 36-homer outburst, which tied for the second most he had ever hit in a season, and a.266/.375/.563 slash. Between 2022 and 2023, he struggled to reach replacement-level numbers as a result of shoulder issues. That proved to be his final strong season. In Votto’s final game in September at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati fans gave him a well-deserved salute. In lieu of a costly club option for 2024, the Reds made the obvious decision to buy him out as the guaranteed portion of his contract came to an end. During the single free agent trip of his career, Votto signed the minor league contract with the Jays. He injured his ankle in his first Spring Training game, which kept him on the injured list until July. Midway through the month, Votto returned to action, but he only hit.143 in 15 Triple-A games before deciding it was time to move on. He can’t play for the Jays again at Rogers Centre as a result, but he can retire knowing that he played for one team throughout his MLB career. He is one of the Reds’ greatest players and one of the league’s most productive first basemen. When Votto’s name is on the ballot in five years, he will undoubtedly be given serious consideration for the Hall of Fame. Votto is ranked 12th among first basemen using Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric, which was created to provide a point of comparison for players against Hall of Famers. The 11 players who came before him are either already in the Hall of Fame or, in the case of Pujols and Cabrera, already guaranteed to be inducted when they are first eligible. Rafael Palmeiro, who plays just behind Votto, is not in the Hall of Fame because of his ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Eddie Murray, Todd Helton, and Willie McCovey were all inducted into the group. Votto’s power wasn’t quite up to par with that of a Hall of Fame first baseman. He leaves with 1144 runs batted in and 356 home runs, ranking 29th at the position. Those are, of course, significant accomplishments for the vast majority of players; however, Votto’s overall excellence was primarily driven by his ability to reach base. He has a career average of.294 and an impressive on-base percentage of.409. In the latter category, he led the NL seven times. Despite his six top-10 MVP finishes, Votto never won a Silver Slugger, which is surprising given that he shared the NL with Pujols and Paul Goldschmidt during his prime. In 2011, he won the Gold Glove Award and the MVP Award the year before. FanGraphs gave Votto 59 WAR, while Baseball Reference gave him 64 wins more than replacement. That is precisely the point at which position players typically receive genuine consideration for the Hall of Fame. If Votto wishes to remain involved in the game, he would undoubtedly receive offers. He complemented his plethora of on-field accomplishments with a methodical approach to hitting and sarcastic wit that, if he chose to take advantage of them, would undoubtedly provide coaching and media opportunities. In his retirement announcement, Votto did not discuss any future plans. MLBTR would like to congratulate him on a successful career and wish him the best in his future endeavors.