Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

The Cincinnati Reds and Toronto Blue Jays had brief discussions about a trade involving Reds first baseman Joey Votto before last year’s deadline, according to multiple baseball sources. The discussions were first reported by the Toronto Star on Tuesday.

The discussions were instigated by the Blue Jays and did not reach a serious enough stage for the teams to begin negotiating prospects or how much money the Reds would pay down on Votto’s lengthy and expensive contract, although one source said the Reds understood that they’d need to eat some money and that the Blue Jays had the prospects necessary for a deal.

No trade came to fruition before the trade deadline, although the Reds passed Votto through waivers in August in case the Blue Jays remained interested. By that time, Toronto had used much of its capital to acquire shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and starting pitcher David Price in order to gear up for its postseason run.

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Votto is a Toronto native and resides there in the offseason, although there would have been several hurdles to clear to make a trade happen. First, the Reds had to be sure they wanted to move him. The first baseman was in the midst of a historic second half at that point, and with eight guaranteed years left on his contract, he’d likely be an important piece when the team surfaced from its rebuild.

But many in the game view Votto’s contract as an albatross. The Reds would have owed him $199 million after the 2015 season, including a $7 million buyout for 2024. Deciding how much cash to send to Toronto for a player worth his current salary but likely to decline by the end of his contract would have been a tricky task.

Even if the two teams had been able to come to an agreement on a trade, Votto has a full no-trade clause in his contract and could have vetoed any deal. Votto has declined to discuss any hypothetical usage of that clause.

Eventually, the Reds decided it didn’t make sense and said they’d revisit the notion in the offseason. That winter, the Blue Jays hired former Cleveland Indians executive Mark Shapiro over then-general manager Alex Anthopolous, who had been the aggressor in the Votto talks. Anthopolous left the organization soon after.

Any resurrection of the discussions now seems unlikely. One Reds source said the Blue Jays are more conservative with payroll and protective of their farm system under Shapiro, and doesn’t think Toronto would be willing to pay an enticing price to land the first baseman.

The Reds also see Votto as important piece going forward – and hard to replace at the position anyway – and believe his contract might not seem so onerous in the later years as player salaries continue to rise each winter.

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Cozart takes grounders

Reds shortstop Zack Cozart, out much of the past week with an aching Achilles, took groundballs on the field for the first time Wednesday and hopes to be back in the lineup Friday in Arizona. The Reds are off Thursday.

“It just feels good to be back out there, moving around and not being hindered,” Cozart said. “So far, so good. I said it earlier in the week, my main concern is moving out on defense. I don’t anticipate hitting being a big deal since I felt so good out there defensively.”

Manager Bryan Price wouldn’t commit to Cozart starting at short the first game against the Diamondbacks, however.

"I don’t think it’ll be a whole lot longer, but at the same time we’ll continue to err on the side of caution to make sure to the best of our ability we can avoid setbacks,” Price said.

Minor leaguers suspended

Minor-league right-handers Israel Cuevas, Felix Jimenez and Enyer Morales all received 72-game suspensions for testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol, Major League Baseball and the players' union released in a joint statement.

All three players were playing in the Dominican Summer League, although they were split between two different DSL teams.