One of the biggest talking points since Game 7 of the World Series for the Blue Jays has been the role of the closer. Ross Atkins, in his end-of-season press conference, stated that Jeff Hoffman is not “married” to the closer role and was open to whatever helped the team win.

In other words, the team is open to sharing the load with another arm or bringing in a new player to fill the role altogether.

With this in mind, should the Jays keep the right-hander in the role next season? Or spend some money this winter on a reliever who can take over the closer spot?

Hoffman, 32, posted a 4.37 ERA across 68 innings for the Blue Jays this past season. While he is a heavy strikeout pitcher—his strikeouts per nine innings were 11.1—his 1.191 WHIP was not ideal for a closer. His ERA+ was 98, his lowest since 2020 and a significant drop compared to the 194 he put up in his final season with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Despite some impressive stretches, Hoffman’s 2025 season was plagued by inconsistency.

It was almost as if every month, he alternated between being lights out and pouring gasoline on the fire. His season started well with a 1.17 ERA through the first couple of weeks. Then May hit, and his ERA ballooned to 13.50 as he surrendered 15 runs in 10 innings. He settled down in June with a 1.80 ERA, only to see it rise to 4.50 in July. August was another struggle, with a 6.00 ERA and a season-high nine walks—five of which came in a single game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He finished strong, however, posting an ERA under 1.00 in 10.2 innings in September, with the only run allowed being a home run to Yainer Díaz on September 10.

Hoffman blew seven saves in 2025, tied for the third-most among closers. Only Greg Weissert (9), Ryan Helsley (9), and Tanner Scott (10) blew more. Home runs were a major issue, as he allowed 15 of them—most among Blue Jays relievers.

Once the playoffs began, Hoffman was dominant. He posted a 1.46 ERA across 12 1/3 innings, striking out 18 batters and recording two crucial saves that helped send the Blue Jays to both the ALCS and the World Series. His postseason performance solidified him as the club’s best reliever, which made it even more heartbreaking that the only home run he allowed came on the game-tying shot by Miguel Rojas in Game 7.

Velocity had been a concern all year, but in the playoffs, he was back up to touching 97 mph while generating excellent whiff rates on his slider and splitter in the zone. Hoffman faced only 48 batters but produced the highest strikeout rate on the team at 13.8%.

This is arguably one of the hardest questions facing the Blue Jays heading into 2026 when it comes to their current roster.

On one hand, the reliever market features several intriguing back-end options such as Edwin Díaz, Ryan Helsley, Raisel Iglesias, Kenley Jansen, and more. On the other hand, this front office has historically been gun-shy about giving relievers significant money. However, after coming so close to winning it all, it’s fair to expect the organization will not be playing around this winter. When you’re this close to a championship, you need to exhaust all resources, and the team will undoubtedly be active from the winter meetings onward.

It’s time for the organization to adopt a more aggressive approach and do everything possible to improve the roster in pursuit of another World Series run.

Will we see Hoffman closing games in 2026? The option is certainly on the table, but a platoon arrangement—or even a shift to a setup role in the seventh or eighth inning—may be more likely. It remains to be seen as the offseason unfolds, but the Jeff Hoffman experiment is not over. With how deep this team aims to be, he still figures into their plans as they look to contend once more.

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