Reds legend Joey Votto calls off comeback bid and abruptly announces retirement

With the Cincinnati Reds wrapping up their series in his hometown of Toronto, it seemed only fitting that Joey Votto would announce his retirement. The former NL MVP and six-time All-Star took to social media on Wednesday evening to announce that he's hanging up his cleats after 17 seasons in the big leagues.

Votto spent his entire major league tenure with the Reds, but after Cincinnati did not pick up his team-option this past offseason, the longtime first baseman entered free agency for the first time in his career.

Votto languished on the free agent market for quite some time, but eventually decided to sign a minor-league contract with his boyhood team, the Toronto Blue Jays. Votto homered in his first at-bat during spring training, but suffered an ankle injury upon his return to the dugout that kept him out of action for months.

Reds legend Joey Votto calls off comeback bid and abruptly announces retirement

Votto attempted to make it back to The Show, but his rehab assignment was not yielding the results necessary for the Blue Jays to call him back up to the major leagues. In 15 games at Triple-A Buffalo, Votto was hitting just .143/.275/.214 with a 43.1% strikeout rate. Those are not the type of numbers that Reds fans remember from his time in Cincinnati, and it's a good bet that Votto himself never dreamt that the drop-off would be that bad.

In his Instagram post, Votto can be seen standing in a parking lot and saying, "That's it. I'm done. I am officially retired from baseball." Votto made sure to thank a number of his teammates on his in his post. Players like Eugenio Suárez, Jay Bruce, Luis Castillo, Devin Mesoraco, Scott Rolen, and his former manager Dusty Baker were all mentioned.

Now Votto gets to wait for that invite to Cooperstown — that will undoubtedly come sooner rather than later. The 17-year veteran may not necessarily be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but one day, Votto will be enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

More Cincinnati Reds News and Rumors