Blue Jays send former closer Hoffman to Twins for prospect package

HOUSTON -- The Blue Jays struck one last time before the bell rang at the Trade Deadline, dealing reliever Jeff Hoffman to the Twins for what looks like their highest-upside package of the Deadline, shortly before a 3-1 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.

That package was headlined by Minnesota’s No. 7 prospect, Dasan Hill (pronounced like “Jason”), a big, hard-throwing lefty with plenty of upside for the Blue Jays’ player development staff to play with. The 20-year-old is still very raw, but he touches 99 mph and has elite strikeout potential if he can wrangle all of that talent.

The Blue Jays weren’t just cashing in on a dominant two-month stretch from Hoffman, but also on the fact he has a year of club control remaining in 2027 for the Twins.

TRADE DETAILS
Toronto gets: LHP Dasan Hill (now Blue Jays' No. 6 prospect), RHP John Klein (now TOR No. 25), INF Dameury Pena and international signing bonus pool space
Minnesota gets: RHP Jeff Hoffman and cash considerations

This one felt like it came together suddenly, within 30 minutes of the Deadline. One moment, Hoffman was strolling around the Blue Jays’ clubhouse with that same old swagger. The next moment, he was hugging his teammates, an emotional goodbye for a player who truly loved his time in Toronto.

“Once you play in a place like this, you don’t want to leave,” Hoffman said. “They definitely have a great thing going here. I think all organizations should strive to be like Toronto.”

Hoffman, 33, closed for Toronto last year, racking up 33 saves, and has 50 saves in his big league career. He’s tallied 75 strikeouts in 48 innings this year, giving the Twins relief corps a piece it simply didn’t have before. Yoendrys Gomez and Andrew Morris have been very effective finishing out games, but neither misses bats at that kind of rate.

Hoffman wasn’t the Blue Jays’ most obvious trade chip, given that he still has one year of control remaining in 2027 at $12,666,667, but the upside he represents turned Hoffman into a popular name leading up to the Trade Deadline. Currently in the second year of his three-year, $33 million deal signed with the Blue Jays, Hoffman will be a free agent following the 2027 season.

“This is not the situation we wanted to be in, where we’re parting ways with Jeff Hoffman,” said GM Ross Atkins. “We were given so much support that we didn’t have the pressure to do it if we weren’t able to get the return we felt made the most sense. It got across the line, where we felt it made too much sense for the organization. We would have certainly been pleased to have Jeff Hoffman tonight and next year, but that return and the shape of it made sense for us.”

In Toronto, Hoffman has been a lightning rod, constantly a source of debate among fans due to the extreme levels of variance between his good days and bad days. That boiled over in Game 7 of the World Series, when Hoffman was on the mound and just two outs away from sealing the Blue Jays’ first championship in over three decades when he gave up the game-tying home run to Dodgers No. 9 hitter Miguel Rojas. He’d been spectacular all postseason, but Hoffman’s tougher moments had a way of dominating the conversation.

“I will say this. I think it’s very unfair for Jeff Hoffman to be remembered by one pitch last year in Game 7,” manager John Schneider said. “That unfortunately comes with Game 7 when you’re pitching in the ninth inning, but what he’s done for us last year and this year, I’ll always be thankful for. The way he handled the early part of this season, too, that’s not an easy thing to do.”

That bled into 2026, with Hoffman losing the closer’s role to Louis Varland a month into the season. He’s gotten his home run problem from a year ago under control, though, and with a strikeout rate of 14.1 K/9, it’s obvious that the potential is still here for Hoffman to be a dominant back-end arm. If you catch him for the right stretch of 25-30 innings, there’s no reason Hoffman can’t be the best reliever added at this Deadline, his upper-90s fastball setting up a slider that hitters have struggled to even touch.

Hoffman now joins old teammate Tommy Nance, whom the Blue Jays dealt to the Twins in July, to make another run at the postseason in Minneapolis.