The 40-year-old slugger signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays over the winter, but got hurt during spring training and was working his way back at Triple-A Buffalo — slashing just .165/.298/.271 with a pair of homers and 12 RBI over 104 plate appearances. He finishes an extremely impressive big-league career hitting .294/.409/.511 with 356 home runs, 1144 RBI, 80 stolen bases and a 1640/1365 K/BB ratio over 8746 plate appearances in 17 seasons with the Reds. He won the National League MVP award in 2010, was a six-time All-Star and a Gold Glove winner. Entertaining on and off the field, Votto was a true joy to cover. We wish him the best in the next chapter of his life.

Unfortunately, Votto, who missed the first 2 1/2 months with an ankle injury, isn’t yet building any sort of case for joining the Blue Jays in September. In 15 games since moving up to Triple-A, he’s gone 6-for-42 with one homer and 22 strikeouts.

He’ll be re-evaluated on Saturday to see if he’s able to play. There’s still no clear timetable on when the 40-year-old slugger could be an option to join the Jays at the big-league level. The club should have an update on his status on Saturday.

Votto has been off for a few days now after beginning a rehab assignment last week, but he’s expected to resume playing in the minors before the end of the week. He was 0-for-5 in three games before going down.