The Minnesota Twins are acquiring right-handed reliever Jeff Hoffman from the Toronto Blue Jays, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The Twins are surrendering a big haul to acquire the right-hander, sending the Blue Jays top pitching prospect Dasan Hill, right-hander John Klein and infielder Damuery Pena, according to The Athletic's Mitch Bannon.
This season, Hoffman has posted a 3.94 ERA with a 1.38 WHIP and 75 strikeouts in 48 innings across 51 appearances. The right-hander is still owed roughly $3.5 million this year, which the Twins have agreed to pay. In 2027, the final year of his contract, Hoffman will be paid $11 million, which the Blue Jays will pay a portion of.
This makes sense. Jeff Hoffman has an $11 million salary for 2027, but is owed only $3.5 million or so for the rest of this season. https://t.co/1G8u28JQv0
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 3, 2026
While it's exciting to see the Twins acquire a big-name relief arm, it's sad to see Hill be included in the deal. Before the deal, Hill ranked as the Twins' No. 7 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. Klein and Pena seemed more expendable, as Klein ranked as the club's No. 17 overall prospect and Pena didn't crack the club's top-30, but surrendering Hill sure seems like a bit of an overpay.
Twins' decision to include Dasan Hill in Jeff Hoffman trade with Blue Jays sends win-now message
It's also worth mentioning that the Twins had Hoffman during 2023 spring training, but the club released him after deciding not to place him on the active roster. Not that Minnesota should've stayed away from Hoffman this year solely for that reason, especially since he would've hit free agency after the season no matter what, but it may make fans wish that Minnesota would have kept him and then extended him, rather than surrendering a big haul for him this year.
Regardless of the overpay, there are reasons to be excited about Hoffman, 33, wearing a Twins uniform during the regular season for the first time.
If you take one look at Hoffman's Baseball Savant page, you will see a lot of red. He has an expected ERA of 3.33 (77th percentile), an expected batting average of .211, a chase rate of 38.1%, a whiff rate of 37.8% and a strikeout rate of 34.9%. He also has above-average hard-hit and ground ball rates.
Hoffman will automatically join Yoendrys Gomez, Andrew Morris and A.J. Minter in the back end of the Twins' bullpen. Minnesota's bullpen has been the club's primary weakness this year, but now it looks like a strength after the trade deadline.
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