Jeff Hoffman’s tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays has had its fair share of ups and downs.

Since he arrived in Toronto back in the winter of 2025, Hoffman has been a polarizing player to watch. Half the time, he is lights out and can be one of the most dominant relievers. On the hand, his meltdowns are catastrophic. I don’t think any Blue Jays fan will get over Game 7 of the World Series for a long time, and the fanbase has turned on Hoffman a lot over the last several months.

Despite that fact, Hoffman has been one of the most effective relievers for the Blue Jays over the last two months. Hoffman’s ERA is down to 4.11 in 49 games, lower than the 4.37 ERA he had last season in 71 appearances. His K/9 is the best in his career at 14.1, which is higher than Dylan Cease and Louis Varland.  Hoffman’s 72 strikeouts are actually the fifth-most on the team and show he is capable of getting batters out. In June alone, batters hit just .211 against him and he recorded 15 strikeouts in 12 innings of work.

These stats aside, they are not the only underlying numbers of what’s gone right for Hoffman this year. His slider has been his key pitch this season, as it’s generating a 50.3% whiff rate and 31.7% put away rate. When Hoffman’s in control of his stuff, he can be a very capable reliever when it comes to attacking the strike zone and getting batters to chase his pitches.

Trading Hoffman could be more enticing than trading other relievers out of the Jays’ bullpen, as he has another year on his contract paying him $12.6 million. Hoffman has been linked to his previous home of Philadelphia, where he pitched before signing his three-year deal with Toronto. The Phillies would ideally like to add Hoffman as a late-inning reliever to aid Jhoan Duran in closing games out. While he is not the only arm the Phillies could be asking about from the Blue Jays, adding a familiar reliever that has shown he still has the same skill-set from his 2024 season could be of intrigue.

While the Phillies aren’t the only team inquiring about Hoffman, he can certainly fetch you a solid return, potentially similar to that of when the team traded away Isiah Kiner-Falefa in 2024 for Charles McAdoo. The Phillies could send Toronto some assets to try to improve their pitching depth, such as Moises Chace or Matthew Fisher. Dante Nori could also be a young outfielder the team can acquire to salvage assets. The possibilities, of course, are only speculative right now, but with the iron being hot, the Blue Jays could roll the dice to try and salvage some competitive pieces for 2027 and beyond.