The Mets should consider Joey Votto to add to their collection of one-year deals

Perhaps the last thing the 2024 Mets need is to add a 40 year old, lefty-hitting 1B who hit .202 last year and put up a 0.0 fWAR. But this isn’t just any over the hill guy. Instead, this is Joey Votto and he should be available for a song. My interest in Votto would top out at a $5 million level, perhaps with some incentives. If he wants more than that, so be it, he goes elsewhere.

Votto won the MVP Award in 2010, drew support in the balloting eight other times, including a top-7 finish each year from 2015-2017. The most recent season he received MVP votes was 2021, when he finished 17th. But Votto has been limited the past two years with shoulder problems, which cut short his 2022 season and kept him on the sidelines for the first 72 games of 2023. Additionally, Votto missed time in late August-early September with his left shoulder, which was the one that required surgery earlier.

But Votto played in 14 games to close out 2023, enough to give him peace of mind. He’s continued to work out in preparation for the upcoming season, even though he remains unsigned. Here’s what he told C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic recently:

“I don’t get concerned about finding a job. If I’m healthy, strong and in a good place with my swing. I just don’t worry about it. Maybe I should. I understand that I’m a pretty limited position guy, but I’ve got the thing, the left-handed hitting thing. I’ve got it when I’m playing well.”

Snip

“I’m just thinking about entering spring training and honing in on the first at-bat of spring training,” Votto said. “That’s where my head is at, I’m thinking about attacking and being in a healthy, strong place to be able to be competitive physically. That’s the only thing I think about on a daily basis with my continued strength training and physical therapy and the immense progress I’ve made over the last two months.

When you think of Votto, you probably think of the ultra-patient hitter who could also take you deep if you made a mistake. That’s the player he was in 2015, when he had a 20.6 BB%, a mark that would make Brandon Nimmo jealous.

But after posting just a 95 OPS+ in 2019, Votto changed into a player looking to hit home runs first and foremost. And, sure, he didn’t give up on walks completely. But while previously his approach was to not expand the strike zone at all, now he was willing to swing at pitches that were balls if he felt he could do damage.

In 756 PA over the 2020-21 seasons, Votto posted a 130 OPS+ with 47 HR and 79 XBH.

My guess is that there’s virtually no chance that the Mets sign Votto, with the odds in the low single digits. But even at his advanced age, my preference would be to gamble that he could return to 2021 levels, rather than Luis Severino rediscovering 2018.

Regardless, if the whole idea of 2024 is to gamble with one-year upside plays, doesn’t Votto fit that perfectly? Even battling the shoulder issue, Votto hit 25 HR in 618 PA in the 2022-23 seasons. And if you’re concerned that he’s the product of a hitter-friendly home park, know that Votto has a lifetime .912 OPS in road games. Last year, in a season with a .747 OPS overall, Votto posted an .830 OPS on the road, with half of his 14 homers coming in away games.

Without a doubt, there are a lot of cons when it comes to the Mets signing Votto. In addition to everything in the first sentence of this piece, there’s also the fact he would take away playing time from both Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. But among 1B, 3B and DH, it shouldn’t be an insurmountable task to find around 400 PA in 2024 for all three players, providing that they were all productive. In 2023, Mets 3B and DH combined for 1,288 PA. Throw in a handful more for days off for Pete Alonso and there’s enough playing time to go around.

There’s been a ton of virtual ink used on free agents at the top of the market that the Mets could potentially sign. There’s also been a fair amount at the middle level, with Justin Turner’s name being among those most prominent. Turner makes some sense, as theoretically he could play 3B. But the people who feel that way didn’t actually watch him play the position last year.

If you want to consider Turner as an option to play third twice a month, that’s okay. Anything more than that seems to be asking for trouble and seems especially unlikely for David Stearns, who has made a concerted effort to improve the club defensively. However, Turner fits better than Votto as a RHB. But people forget that Turner declined a $13.4 million player option to become a free agent. What are the chances he signs for $5 million or fewer, like what the market for Votto should be? And signing Votto doesn’t eliminate the Mets from adding a reliever, which should fit into the $10 million budget that Andy Martino reported.

There was a Votto tweet in the Rosecrans article that was said in jest and definitely gets a chuckle.

Being a free agent is like that scene from Gravity where Sandra Bullock detaches from the Explorer. You’re all alone, no one is answering your calls, and you don’t know if you’ll get back to base. Your only hope is George Clooney saving you.

Save me, George.

— Joey Votto (@JoeyVotto) December 28, 2023

Is Clooney a Mets fan? Somehow, I could see that.