OFFICIAL: We’ve signed All-Star RHP Jeff Hoffman to a 3-year deal ⭐️ Welcome Back, @Hoff_23!
Blue Jays sign Jeff Hoffman to a three-year deal
Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Jan 10, 2025, 20:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 10, 2025, 20:09 EST
Ladies and gentlemen, the Toronto Blue Jays have signed someone.
It was announced by the team on Friday evening that they’ve signed Jeff Hoffman to a three-year deal worth $33 million that could go as high as $39 million.
Moreover, the Blue Jays designated Brett de Geus for assignment to make room for Hoffman on the 40-man roster.
Jays designated Brett de Geus to make 40-man space for Jeff Hoffman, btw
On top of the fact that the Blue Jays finally did something, this is a pretty good start to their off-season. Hoffman pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies last season, posting a 2.17 ERA and a 2.52 FIP in 66.1 innings pitched while striking out 33.6% of batters and only walking 6% of batters. The year prior, Hoffman broke out as a reliever, posting a 2.41 ERA and a 2.57 FIP in 52.1 innings pitched, with a 33.2 K% and a 9.1 BB%.
If you like to look at Baseball Savant, you’ll love what Hoffman has to offer as there is a whole lot of red. In 2024, Hoffman was in the 96th percentile for Chase %, Whiff%, and K%, while being in the 81 percentile for BB% and the 90ish percentile for xERA, xBA, and fastball velocity, Speaking of velocity, his fastball sat at 96.6 mph while featuring a nasty slider, a splitter, and a sinker.
Hoffman instantly becomes the Blue Jays best pitcher in the bullpen. According to MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins noted that Hoffman will get an opportunity to close out games for the Jays.
Ross Atkins on the #BlueJays signing Jeff Hoffman: “We are excited to add Jeff to our bullpen. His arsenal, strike throwing, and ability to miss bats against all types of hitters is elite and will undoubtedly make us better. Jeff will get an opportunity to close games for us..."
It’s worth noting that ESPN’s Kiley McDaniels believed that teams had an interest in Hoffman as a starter, as his four-pitch mix works well in the rotation. In fact, he reported that Hoffman could earn a $500,000 bonus for reaching certain innings pitched, including 90 innings pitched. Perhaps running Hoffman as a starter is a plan for the future.
Source: for all 3 years, Hoffman will get $500,000 bonuses for each of 60, 70, 80, and 90 IP. Allows for more upside if he’s stretched out. Read (for free!) Hoffman’s thoughts on what he looks for in team and how he remade himself in the last two seasons. espn.com/mlb/story/_/id…
OFFICIAL: We’ve signed All-Star RHP Jeff Hoffman to a 3-year deal ⭐️ Welcome Back, @Hoff_23!
This is a reunion for the Blue Jays, as they drafted him ninth overall in the 2014 draft. However, Hoffman never appeared in a game for the Blue Jays, as he was traded to the Colorado Rockies in 2015 for Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins.
Overall, this is a great signing for the Blue Jays and hopefully they can build off it. Ideally, I’d love to see them add a starter (like Jack Flaherty), a bat (preferably Anthony Santander), and maybe even a second bat.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
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