Former NL MVP and 6-time All-Star Joey Votto announces his retirement from baseball

TORONTO (AP) — Former NL MVP and six-time All-Star Joey Votto announced his retirement from baseball in a short video posted to social media 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.

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.