SEATTLE – It appears the Twins have gotten their man at the back of the bullpen.
Minnesota acquired former All-Star Jeff Hoffman and cash from the Blue Jays for a package including prospects Dasan Hill (Twins' No. 7 prospect), John Klein (No. 17) and Dameury Pena, as well as international bonus pool space.
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The acquisition of Hoffman completes the rebuild of a Twins bullpen that has added multiple pieces since the beginning of July, starting with another pickup from the Blue Jays, righty Tommy Nance. Minnesota also added veteran lefty AJ Minter from the Mets earlier this week, as well as starter Dean Kremer from Baltimore.
TRADE DETAILS
Twins get: RHP Jeff Hoffman, cash
Blue Jays get: LHP Dasan Hill (MIN No. 7 prospect), RHP John Klein (No. 17), 2B Dameury Pena, international bonus pool space
Hoffman, 33, closed for Toronto last year, racking up 33 saves, and has 50 saves in his big league career. He’s racked up 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.
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.
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.