Jeff Hoffman signs with Blue Jays
Former Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman has found a new home.
The 2024 All-Star has landed with the Toronto Blue Jays on a three-year contract, the team announced. The deal is worth $33 million and could be worth up to $39 million with incentives, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Per ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, Hoffman will earn $500,000 each in all three years if he reaches 60, 70, 80 and 90 innings pitched.
Hoffman, 31, revitalized his career over the last two seasons with Philadelphia. Signed to a minor league deal in April 2023, Hoffman has a 2.28 ERA over the last two seasons. The Phillies took a flier on him after he threw live batting practice to a rehabbing Bryce Harper and were rewarded for it.
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said in a statement that Hoffman “will get the opportunity to close games.” The incentive structure of his deal, however, rewards him for making at least a few starts a year.
The chances of Hoffman returning to the Phillies diminished when the team signed former Blue Jays reliever Jordan Romano to a one-year contract in December. The Phillies were set on getting one right-handed high-leverage reliever and Romano checked that box. The signing of Joe Ross just before the Christmas holiday also made a reunion with Hoffman seem even more unlikely.
Hoffman will return to the team that selected him in the first round of the 2015 draft. The Blue Jays ended up trading Hoffman to the Rockies in a package for Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins.
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