BREAKING: Twins to Acquire Right-Handed Reliever Jeff Hoffman from Blue Jays

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

Jeff Hoffman was briefly Minnesota Twins property once before. Now, he's back, as the team made a last-minute trade to acquire him from the Toronto Blue Jays Monday afternoon. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic broke the news.

Hoffman, 33, dominates righties with a vicious power slider. Against lefties, he divides his mix more evenly among that slider; a four-seamer that averages 96 MPH; and a splitter that can miss bats. For some stretches over the last four seasons, he’s been outright elite among high-leverage relievers. He’s given up some gut-punch homers since joining the Blue Jays, but broadly speaking, he remains a lethal weapon. He’s owed $11 million next season and a prorated share of the same amount the rest of this year. The Twins will take on all of the money for 2026, but Toronto will send some to help cover next year's salary.

In exchange, Minnesota gives up three prospects. John Klein debuted for Minnesota earlier this year, and will be in position to contribute for the reloading Jays down the stretch. Along with him come two upside plays for Toronto, in high-upside (but, lately, messy) pitching prospect Dasan Hill and infielder Dameury Pena, each of whom are far from the big leagues.

Minnesota will also send international bonus pool allotments to Toronto as part of the deal, effectively undoing a portion of the earlier trade in which Toronto sent some of those allotments to Minnesota along with Tommy Nance. 

 

Hoffman immediately becomes the Twins' relief ace. He takes pressure off Yoendrys Gómez and Andrew Morris, and gives the team newfound depth in their high-leverage options. The rest of the way, the trick will be getting to the late innings with leads; holding onto those advantages should be easier.

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[Rufus]

they gave up Dasan Hill and John Klein. and a minor league infeilder  Toronto like MN native pitchers I guess.  Two of their top 20 prospects.   I like Hill, but he is having a down year

 

[TCanWins]

I hope they haven't given up too many good prospects for him! 

[MMBoys93]

Zoll is not it lol

Waited all day and this is the trade? A reliever who has sucked for 2 years and is still owed 15 million…and traded a borderline top 100 guy for him.

 

[90stwinskid]

Yes! Here I thought they were going to leave empty handed after getting Minter and Kremer. Now Pohlad is really walking the talk.

[Greglw3]

It looks like since late June he’s been dominant

[1985Fan]

Is Hoffman under control for next year? If so, how much are the Twins on the hook for?

[mrguy]

Dasan Hill, John Klein and Dameury Pena are the return the Jays are getting. Jays getting a solid haul in thsi deal, hope Hoffman got over his world series bomb!

[mark allen]

1 minute ago, Rufus said:

they gave up Dasan Hill

Klien also

[LA Vikes Fan]

Gave up Dasan Hill (ouch), John Klein (meh), and an IF named Damuery Pena. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

Hoffmann had a 0.75 ERA in June and 1.93 in July. Still, giving up Hill seems like a lot. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

3 minutes ago, MMBoys93 said:

Zoll is not it lol

Waited all day and this is the trade? A reliever who has sucked for 2 years and is still owed 15 million…and traded a borderline top 100 guy for him.

 

To be fair I don't think Hill is still viewed as a fringe top 100 year after this year.  

[DataNerd]

1 minute ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Gave up Dasan Hill (ouch), John Klein (meh), and an IF named Damuery Pena. 

Pena has been a worse version of Arraez in the low minors.  Makes a ton of contact, no pop.  Main difference is that Pena has long periods where he is hitting .240 while Arraez never hit below .298 at a level with more than 100PAs.

[LambchoP]

Curious if he's a rental or has control for next year?

[Brandon]

If Dasan doesn't find control soon he will at best be a reliever.  I am fine with the cost of this trade.  

I got my hopes up for a Neto trade the more I keep hearing about it.  I think I'm in the minority in hoping we keep Larnarch cause of Buxtons injury we need all of the bats we can get.

[MMBoys93]

1 minute ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

To be fair I don't think Hill is still viewed as a fringe top 100 year after this year.  

He’s 20 years old and has a k/9 of 15.4 lol. Outside of some bumpy control cause he’s you know…20, he’s striking people out at a rate you just don’t see. 

[DataNerd]

Just now, LambchoP said:

Curious if he's a rental or has control for next year?

1 more year, they are paying for some portion of it.

[HarmonK03]

3 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Gave up Dasan Hill (ouch), John Klein (meh), and an IF named Damuery Pena. 

Giving up Hill doesn't concern Zoll because he won't be here when Hill is ready for the major leagues.

[Patzky]

Still hoping for an Emerson-Kirby wiggle. 

[mrguy]

2 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Hoffmann had a 0.75 ERA in June and 1.93 in July. Still, giving up Hill seems like a lot. 

maybe hill stalling a bit in Cedar Rapids made the front office think he's got a lot more to go before he'll really make an impact and want to see if they can get something good now before the likelihood of falling off in Wichita

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

1 minute ago, MMBoys93 said:

He’s 20 years old and has a k/9 of 15.4 lol. Outside of some bumpy control cause he’s you know…20, he’s striking people out at a rate you just don’t see. 

I still like him, but he is back to a Winokur type level for me.   

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Hoffman has failed 2 physicals back in 2025 so something to consider although I doubt the Twins will have an issue.  Twins are definitely paying more for players that have performed well recently - Abreu and Hoffman.  

[terrydactyls]

Still seven minutes left according to my watch.  It's possible another trade could happen.

[bean5302]

Twins bullpen should be pretty set at this point.

[Patzky]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

I still like him, but he is back to a Winokur type level for me.   

I was (am) worried Winokur would disappear.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

3 minutes ago, mrguy said:

maybe hill stalling a bit in Cedar Rapids made the front office think he's got a lot more to go before he'll really make an impact and want to see if they can get something good now before the likelihood of falling off in Wichita

Its still less than Bradley for Jax and Rojas and Roden for Varland  or Tait and Abel for Duran.  

[LA Vikes Fan]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

I still like him, but he is back to a Winokur type level for me.   

If that's what Hill is and we have Hoffmann next year with Toronto paying some of the bill, then the payout is fine for him. 

[Patzky]

Just now, terrydactyls said:

Still seven minutes left according to my watch.  It's possible another trade could happen.

Hope Trevor is relaxing with the guys at the movies. Maybe take a pee break shortly

[terrydactyls]

1 minute ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Hoffman has failed 2 physicals back in 2025 so something to consider although I doubt the Twins will have an issue.  Twins are definitely paying more for players that have performed well recently - Abreu and Hoffman.  

Have they traded for Abreu? 

[Mike Sixel]

11 minutes ago, MMBoys93 said:

Zoll is not it lol

Waited all day and this is the trade? A reliever who has sucked for 2 years and is still owed 15 million…and traded a borderline top 100 guy for him.

 

Hoffman has been quite good this year.