Cincinnati Reds’ massive contract with Joey Votto surprises teammates - MLB News
The Cincinnati Reds decision to sign a tremendous contract, worth $225 million, with Joey Votto has been receiving a mix response from both within the club and the outside. The news has been met either with an utter surprise or that of complete disbelief.
However, running within the team camp are the sentiments of joy and happiness coupled with that of a tinge or enormous surprise. The Great American Ball Park had presented a striking manifestation of this joy on Tuesday, April 03.
"I'm happy for him," Reds right fielder Jay Bruce said. "I think he's going to be really happy here. It's pretty monumental for the franchise. I know he plans on giving his very best, working as hard as he can work and will continue to work to be the player that earned this contract."
Part of the reason why this news ostensibly remains incredible in nature is the fact that the Reds are not organizationally as sophisticatedly established and financially rich/sound as that of, say, the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox.
Not only the aforementioned teams, the club like Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers could also have gone for bigger and multimillion dollar deals. Albert Pujols signed $240 million while Prince Fielder had $214 million contract with their respective teams only recently.
However, compared to these teams, the Reds were not expected to go for such generous, if not extravagant deal. Nonetheless, given the stature of Votto within the team and in the Major League Baseball, this might not be a big deal. Be that as it may, surprise continues to persist.
"I think it was a little bit of a surprise for two reasons," Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo said of the contract news. "First, Joey was so quiet and we didn't hear anything about it until a few hours before it happened.”
With such a big contract transpiring, it will be interesting to see how Joey Votto – who is 28 years old, and had 2 years before becoming a free agent, proves this decision right with his supposedly great performance in MLB.
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