Joey Votto typically speaks free of restrictions, regardless of topic, so when he was recently asked on a Yahoo Sports podcast about the Reds' first six-plus weeks of the season -- which has included the dismissal of manager Bryan Price, the promotion of Nick Krall to general manager and a 14-28 start -- Votto was forthright and candid.
"Not often does a player get to speak the way I'm speaking right now, because my role is to do my job on the field and pretty much zip my lips, which makes sense," he said. "But in the same breath, I've been with this franchise for, I think, 17 years now.