Will Blue Jays call up 40-year-old former MVP? Insider raises doubt

The Toronto Blue Jays are essentially playing for pride for the remainder of the 2024 season. But that doesn't mean there aren't intriguing subplots to follow.

For much of the year, the news surrounding the Blue Jays has centered on players on their way out. Whether it was trade rumors surrounding superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or the players the Blue Jays actually did send away at the deadline, subtractions have been a constant theme.

But between now and the end of the season, there is one player who has yet to debut for the Blue Jays who may or may not be on his way to Rogers Centre. And that player happens to be a former National League MVP.

First baseman Joey Votto, an Ontario native who played 17 excellent seasons for the Cincinnati Reds, signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays in Spring Training. He has finally made his way to Triple-A, but one insider questions whether he will ever make his Blue Jays debut.

Buster Olney of ESPN said on Tuesday that he has doubts about whether Votto will play for Toronto in 2024, per TSN.

“I personally would be excited to see Votto back on a major-league field but I’m wondering how he’d process all that,” Olney said. “I don’t know how he’s feeling physically and if he’s not 100 percent, I don’t know what he wants to do.”

Votto, 40, missed the first four months of the season while rehabbing an ankle injury suffered in March. He has struggled at the plate in Triple-A Buffalo, batting .211 with a home run in nine games thus far.

If Votto is going to debut in Toronto, playing in the upcoming series with his longtime team, the Reds, would be a storybook way to do so. The Blue Jays welcome the Reds to Rogers Centre from August 19-21.

But, according to Olney, the decision may be every bit as much Votto's as it is the Blue Jays'.

“If you call him up for the series against the Reds, it means you’re committed to him pretty much for the end of the month of September. While I think it would be cool, I don’t know how Votto would feel about that," Olney said.

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