Blue Jays Will Pay Jeff Hoffman $5.42 Million to Pitch For Twins in 2027

October 25, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

The Blue Jays will pay Jeff Hoffman $5.42 million to pitch for the Twins in 2027. Here's why Toronto must pay him after trading him. Getty

Jeff Hoffman will pitch for the Minnesota Twins in 2027 after Toronto traded the faltering closer for prospects at the deadline. But the Blue Jays will still pay $3.75 million of his salary. Toronto also owes a $1.7 million installment payment toward Hoffman’s signing bonus, according to FanGraphs.

The two payments together total approximately $5.42 million. That money follows a closer who gave up the tying home run in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series, then spent 2026 trying to climb out from under that disaster.

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The Blue Jays agreed to cover $3.75 million of his $11 million base salary for next season, according to Blue Jays Nation. The Twins pick up the remaining $7.25 million, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The Blue Jays took the Latham, New York, native ninth overall in 2014, a first-round pick out of East Carolina, then dealt him to Colorado the next summer in the blockbuster deal that brought Troy Tulowitzki north, according to The Canadian Press.

Across 378 appearances for four clubs, Hoffman carried a 38-40 record and 50 saves into this year’s deadline, along with a 4.69 ERA and 638 strikeouts.

The turnaround came with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2024, when he posted a 2.17 ERA in 68 appearances and made his first All-Star team. Toronto then gave him a three-year, $33 million contract.

Blue Jays’ Jeff Hoffman Performance After World Series Game 7

In 2025, Hoffman led all MLB closers in games finished with 59. He also collected 33 saves with a 4.37 ERA, then allowed two runs in 12 1/3 playoff innings, according to Field Level Media.

Then came Game 7. With one out in the ninth and Toronto leading 4-3, Miguel Rojas sent a 3-2 slider 387 feet over the left field fence. The Blue Jays had owned a 91.3 percent chance of winning Game 7 before that swing, according to CBS Sports.

The Dodgers won 5-4 in 11 innings. “Was just one pitch. I cost everybody here a World Series ring,” Hoffman said after the game, as quoted by Sports Illustrated.

Did he ever shake it? The results say yes — eventually. The closer’s job did not come back before he was traded.

Hoffman opened 2026 in the closer’s role, but quickly lost the job on April 24.

Louis Varland took over the role, according to Sports Illustrated.

A 6.31 ERA in April and May cost Hoffman his closer position, according to BaseballHQ. He had blown four saves in nine opportunities by July.

After June 1, though, Hoffman posted a 1.21 ERA with 30 strikeouts over 22 1/3 innings. He finished 2026 with a 3.55 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 66 innings for both clubs, before a forearm injury ended his season Sept. 26.

Why the Blue Jays Traded Jeff Hoffman and Still Pay Him

Toronto’s return was three prospects, headlined by Minnesota’s No. 7 prospect, Dasan Hill, according to MLB.com. The Blue Jays also cashed in on Hoffman’s two-month hot streak and the year of club control left on his contract.

Toronto completed four trades on deadline day.

“This is not the situation we wanted to be in, where we’re parting ways with Jeff Hoffman. 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,” general manager Ross Atkins said after the trade was completed.

So why is Toronto still paying? The Blue Jays used the same device in their earlier Daulton Varsho trade, and it helped Atkins command a better return, according to Blue Jays Nation.