The player Cincinnati Reds should add at MLB trade deadline: Joey Votto | Press Box Wag

It’s hard to get an impact player at the trade deadline if you operate at the margins of the marketplace like the Cincinnati Reds are doing.

Unless a low-lying creative move can be found that matches the ideal fit for the exact ideal team at those margins.

Like this one:

The Reds should see what it would take to acquire the injured first baseman for the Class AAA Buffalo Bisons.

That’s right. Joey Votto.

“Lefty bat. First base,” Reds second baseman Jonathan India mused. “Yeah. I can see it.

“That’d be cool.”

As much as it might sound whimsical, or even cynical, to suggest, consider the potential upside against the negligible risk and presumed cost.

Votto, who tweaked his ankle Friday on the day he was promoted by the Blue Jays to AAA, might wind up making little or no impact on the Reds’ increasingly long-shot playoff aspirations.

But there’s no scenario to suggest his return to the place he remains revered would hurt the effort.

And picture the emotional lift for a group of young hitters, many of whom still consider him an important mentor.

Not to mention what he might do if he answers the bell in a return to the big leagues for two months and catches Votto lightning in a bottle.

“I saw it in ’21,” said India of Votto’s late-career, near-MVP renaissance during India’s Rookie of the Year season.

“Hey, it’s Joey Votto,” he said. “He’s an MVP for a reason. That’d be kind of cool.”

To be sure, the Blue Jays haven’t expressed any intention of trying to trade Votto, and nobody is exactly clamoring for the 40-year-old who lingered until March before signing a minor-league free agent deal after the Reds declined his $20 million contract option.

If anything, the Jays might seek a late-season draw with a Toronto debut of the hometown Votto, considering their disappointing season and potential deadline selloff.

And Votto has barely played, even in the minors, this season after injuring his ankle in March right after hitting a home run in his first spring at-bat for his hometown Blue Jays.

It’s the same ankle he “tweaked” Friday as he prepared for his season debut at AAA, which was to signal his final sprint to a Blue Jays debut.

“We can all dream on those scenarios,” said catcher Tyler Stephenson, one of the two longest tenured Reds. “That’d be cool. Who knows what’s going to happen?”

There’s at least one school of thought up the ladder in the organization that suggests Votto might have not only an impact on the clubhouse for a sagging group but maybe even on the field in a short, finishing kick.

It’s hard to imagine he would hurt the lineup. Only Colorado and Miami in the National League have gotten worse production from first base this season as measured by WAR ( baseball-reference.com ).

Making it happen as an actual trade fit and roster fit is another matter, according to other sources in the organization.

But it’s worth at least a phone call. Because it’s hard to imagine another player the Reds might have the will and means to acquire walking through the clubhouse door at the deadline providing a bigger emotional boost for a team still within a two-week heater of playoff position.

“Joey’s Joey, man. I miss him to death,” India said, adding he loves the idea of bringing him back if only to allow Votto the chance to finish where he started, in Cincinnati.

“A lot of guys that played with him miss him,” India said. “He’s a leader. He was a Red for his whole life. It’s sad that he had to go.

“He’s a special person to the organization.”

He Said It

“We’re going to make the playoffs, and we’re going to win it all.”

*Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz when asked postgame at the All-Star Game his prediction for the Reds in the second half.

The Reds reached the break 47-50, eight games out of first place in the National League Central and three games out of wild-card position.

Speaking of Votto

For anyone who still doesn’t think Votto could have an impact on the Reds just by showing up, consider that even the man in Toronto who plays his position wants the guy on his team.

“If it was up to me, I would love to,” Blue Jays All-Star first baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr. said in Spanish, through an interpreter. “But that’s out of my control.

“I’m not sure what’s going on with him right now, but if he’s going to be with us in the second half or something, that would be great.”

So where would he play?

“He could play first base,” Guerrero said. “Or DH. Whenever I’m DH’ing he could be the first baseman.”

Share the position? Really?

“It was huge for me having him around those days (in spring training),” Guerrero said. “I’ve watched him since I was a kid. A guy like that, with that experience — he gave me a lot of advice, and it was great. It was huge for me.”

Texas Tea Leaves?

One of the best bits of news to come out of All-Star week in Texas was commissioner Rob Manfred softening his position on whether to keep using those ugly, boring All-Star uniforms for future Midsummer Classics, instead of players’ individual team uniforms.

“I’m aware of the sentiment on this issue,” Manfred said during his annual All-Star media session. “Where my head is on it is to have conversation on it coming out of the All-Star Game. We’ve obviously got a lot of uniform things going on.”

He was referring to the widely panned new uniforms MLB and Nike unveiled in the spring, with players complaining of flimsy-feeling, unintentionally transparent material and smaller lettering.

This was the fourth All-Star Game since MLB's switch from players wearing their teams’ uniforms for the game — an 87-year tradition at least one Reds All-Star remembers fondly.

“I love our (ugly-ass All-Star) uniforms here,” Hunter Greene said, “but growing up and watching the All-Star Games and to be able to see everyone wearing different jerseys was really cool, too.

“The ‘80s and ‘90s when guys were wearing the cutoff jerseys and backwards hats, that’s when baseball was the coolest.”

Manfred didn’t make any promises, but it looks like a switch back to the way God meant All-Star Game uniforms to look will be seriously considered.

“Obviously, the conversations have to involve the players first and foremost,” Manfred said, “with Nike and some of our partners. But I am aware of the sentiment. I do know why people kind of like that tradition. There will be conversation on that.”

The Big Number: 19

That’s how many games in the row the Reds pitching staff went without allowing a first-inning run until the Nationals’ Harold Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Nick Lodolo Saturday night in Washington.

It was the longest such streak in the majors this year and longest for the Reds staff since 1977.

Ross Check

After much consideration and perhaps a side-eyed glance or two from the big-eared pup, Ross Greene was unable to make the trip to Texas for the All-Star Game with Pops Hunter.

“No, too much travel. I wouldn’t enjoy myself. My family wouldn’t either,” said Greene, who made the tough decision to leave behind beloved pup Ross at home after considering making him part of the pitcher’s first All-Star experience. “I’d have to have somebody assigned to him. We’d be too worried about him since he’s a puppy.”

Instead, Ross got first-class accommodations at home in Cincinnati for the few days Greene and the rest of the family enjoyed what the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex had to offer.

“Hopefully, the next one,” Greene said.

Greene, who promised when he earned the selection to at least get Ross an All-Star jersey, said he didn’t get to the point of shopping for one.

“It’s funny. David Bell’s wife was kind enough to get him a really cool shirt,” he said. “And then a fan sent a city connect uniform for him, which is pretty cool.”

Maybe Ross got the best of both worlds, after all.

Did You Know?

The opposing starters in the Reds last four losses (through Saturday) had a combined 8-29 record and 5.01 ERA — 2-21, 5.44 for the three losses before Saturday.

That included Miami’s Trevor Rogers and Washington’s Patrick Corbin, both of whom were 1-9 entering their starts against the Reds, in the final game before the break and first game after, respectively.

Corbin (6 IP, 1 ER) on Friday and Colorado’s Kyle Freeland on July 10 (6 2/3 IP, 2 ER) both earned victories. Rogers (5 2/3 IP, 2 ER) and MacKenzie Gore on Saturday (2.0 IP, 3 ER) got no-decisions. For those who didn’t do the math, that’s 2-0 with a 3.54 combined ERA for the foursome vs. the Reds in those starts — 2-0, 2.51 combined ERA in the three before Saturday.

The common thread? All are left-handed. The Reds were 13-19 in games against a left-handed starter, including losses in the last five straight.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The player Cincinnati Reds should add at MLB trade deadline: Joey Votto | Press Box Wag