Blue Jays’ Jeff Hoffman gets trade chance update that might surprise some fans originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Toronto Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman was expected to be one of the better relievers in Major League Baseball over the past few years. Unfortunately for Hoffman, he just hasn’t been the same type of arm that he was with the Philadelphia Phillies prior to joining the Blue Jays.
The right-hander was the reason that the Blue Jays didn’t win a World Series a year ago, allowing a home run against Miguel Rojas in one of the biggest moments in Blue Jays history. Fast forward to 2026, and he’s been even worse than he was in that moment, losing his closer role.
While there’s been some questions about if he’s going to be traded, The Athletic recently suggested that it’s not a guarantee, placing him in a 50/50 category to be dealt.
“After a brutal start to the season that cost him the closer role, Hoffman has worked his way back into some late-game spots with a much better June. The “Blue Jays almost certainly won’t be sellers, so Hoffman would only make sense as a trade piece if Toronto felt it could swap him to another buyer for a more useful player coming back. If Hoffman is available, teams will look as much at that 35 percent strikeout rate as they will at that salary through next season,” Tim Britton of The Athletic wrote.
I still trust Hoffman because he has above-average stuff, and to me, that’s more important in a reliever than a guy who has a really good ERA.
Hoffman’s base numbers aren’t exactly promising, but analytically, they still say that he’s an above-average arm, and that’s something that needs to be factored in at the deadline.
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