Hoffman checks one box, but what’s next for Jays?

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Dunedin in about five weeks, slowly but surely the Toronto Blue Jays are addressing needs.

After adding Andres Gimenez via trade in December to shore up their infield defence and at the same time make a big bet on a bounceback with the bat, the Jays saw an opportunity to add one of the best relievers on the market and pounced, signing Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33-million deal Friday evening.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Hoffman, who was the Jays’ first-round pick way back in 2014 and a key piece of the trade that brought Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto a year later.

Hoffman never made it as the frontline starting pitcher many envisioned when he was selected ninth overall.

Instead, he did the next best thing, remaking himself into a high-leverage reliever over the past two years and he’s inarguably been one of the league’s best.

Over the last two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Hoffman has been worth a total of 3.6 fWAR, a figure only four other relievers in baseball have exceeded in that timeframe.

That excellent work has now earned him a hefty guarantee for a reliever, the most cash the club has ever doled out for a bullpen arm in the Ross Atkins era.

While there was some talk of Hoffman and his deep four-pitch arsenal trying to convert back to the rotation for certain teams, there’s no question what his role will be with the Jays in 2025.

“We are excited to add Jeff to our bullpen,” Atkins said in a statement sent out by the club announcing the deal. “His arsenal, strike throwing, and ability to miss bats against all types of hitters is elite and will undoubtedly make us better. Jeff will get the opportunity to close games for us this season.”

There are very few flaws in Hoffman’s statistical profile and his 2.28 ERA over his last 122 appearances speaks to that.

But one concern that did pop up immediately after the deal was announced was the fact Hoffman had a $40-million deal with the Baltimore Orioles fall through after they flagged his medicals, specifically his shoulder, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided.

The Jays, however, are comfortable with what they saw and don’t seem to be at all concerned, and Hoffman has been very durable over the course of his time in the bullpen over the last three years.

Hoffman joins the recently re-signed Yimi Garcia, Chad Green and Erik Swanson at the back end of manager John Schneider’s bullpen, and while it’s likely another depth addition or two is on the way, the core group seems to be in place.

Elsewhere on the roster, there are still major question marks, as the MLB offseason inches along as usual.

There’s still a ton of talent on the market, and many names the Blue Jays have engaged with are still seen as possibilities.

There’s still a hole in the rotation that needs to be filled and the Jays came oh-so-close to landing Corbin Burnes recently, with the club at one point believing it was close to a done deal, before family considerations turned them towards Arizona.

For most, however, it’s what Atkins does to put the finishing touches on the lineup that’s going to decide the tone heading into camp.

An outfielder with power, a legitimate third baseman and/or a big bat to slot into the DH spot are all needed if this team is going to seriously consider itself a contender and able to get into the 85-90 win range.

Alex Bregman is expensive, as is Anthony Santander, two players that fit well.

The Pete Alonso market seems to have started to shift towards some sort of prove-it deal with opt outs built in, but Scott Boras is going to Scott Boras and we’re likely looking at another year where players are signing after spring training has started, which is an unfortunate part of the buzz-kill ways this sport has decided to structure its offseason roster building.

It has been far from an A-plus offseason so far for the Jays, but they have more talent than they did a couple months ago and there’s still both money and opportunity remaining to get leaps and bounds better by the time it matters.

After their bullpen posted a ghastly 4.82 ERA as a team, second worst in all of baseball, there’s no question the ‘pen is better with Hoffman as the lynchpin now.