Votto lobbies ever-rebuilding Reds to go 'in a different direction'

Joey Votto, still the lone drawing card on a Cincinnati Reds team that's seemingly in perpetual rebuild, is ready to turn a new page.

Votto is coming off an incredible 2017 season that saw him lose one of the closest-ever MVP votes, but the Reds still finished in last place for a third straight season. The prospect of another losing year isn't sitting well with the 34-year-old, who's ready for the franchise to finally flip the script and start building themselves into a contender sooner than people are expecting.

"I think we're starting to get to the point where people are starting to get tired of this stretch of ball," Votto said, according to Cincinnati.com's Zach Buchanan. "I think something needs to start changing and start going in a different direction. I'm going to do my part to help make that change."

Votto more than did his share in 2017. He played in all 162 games and hit .320/.454/.578 - winning his sixth on-base percentage title - and added 36 homers, 34 doubles, 106 runs, and a league-best 134 walks while striking out just 83 times and contributing 6.6 WAR, per Fangraphs.

His MVP-worthy brilliance propped up the otherwise mediocre Reds. Only two 2017 teammates - Zack Cozart and Eugenio Suarez - were worth more than 2.5 fWAR during last year's 94-loss disaster.

"It's tough because even had I won that (MVP), it still would have felt awkward because we had such a down year last year," Votto said, per MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "It's much better going home at the end of a work day knowing that you contributed to winning baseball. It's much better finishing a season knowing you're a part of winning baseball. That's been on my mind."

Cincinnati, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2013 and hasn't won a World Series since 1990, could only watch its small-market division rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, make themselves into a legitimate contender for NL Central supremacy with several high-profile additions.

By contrast, the Reds' biggest offseason moves were inking relievers Jared Hughes and David Hernandez. They also let Cozart walk to the Angels.

"I think at some point we'll do something similar to that (what the Brewers did)," Votto said, per Buchanan. "I can't speak for the business side of things, but everything they've (the front office) ever said is, 'We have the money and we'll make that sort of thing happen.'"