The pros and cons of the Reds bringing Joey Votto back in 2024

Joey Votto's future with the Cincinnati Reds is unknown. At the moment, the Reds maintain a $20-million club-option for the 2024 season that contains a $7-million buyout.

Most assume that the Cincinnati front office will decline the team-option and pay the buyout, which will in turn make Votto a free agent for the first time in his career.

The question then becomes, do the Reds attempt to re-sign Votto for the 2024 season at a lower cost. There are, arguably, just as many pluses as there are minuses. Let's look at the pros and cons to bringing Votto back next season.

Pro: Most Reds fans want to see Joey Votto retire in Cincinnati

Let's begin with the most obvious, shall we? Does anyone within the Cincinnati Reds fanbase want to see Joey Votto play for another team in 2024? While some fans will say it's time to move on, the overwhelming majority want to see Votto finish his career in Cincinnati.

Joe Montana looked weird wearing a Kansas City Chiefs jersey. No one has fond memories of Michael Jordan in a Washington Wizards uniform. And Earl Campbell wearing a fluer de lis on the side of his helmet in New Orleans was just plain wrong. The same holds true for Votto.

For 17 years, Joey Votto has worn the same jersey onto the baseball diamond. And while it's easy to dismiss that in today's game, there's something to be said for a player who starts and finishes his career with one franchise.

Joey Votto still has a Top 15 selling jersey according to MLB.com. It was, however, his first time on the list since 2012, which leads one to believe that a lot of Reds fans assumed this was the future Hall of Famer's last season in the Queen City.