The Toronto Blue Jays have traded righty reliever Jeff Hoffman and cash considerations to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for left-handed pitcher Dasan Hill, right-handed pitcher John Klein, infielder Dameury Pena, and international signing bonus pool space, it was announced on Monday.
Hoffman sports a 3.94 earned-run average over 51 appearances out of the bullpen this season with 75 strikeouts.
The 33-year-old righty began the season as the closer in Toronto’s bullpen before a brutal start to the campaign led to a demotion.
Hoffman compiled a 7.59 ERA in 12 appearances as the closer before manager John Schneider demoted him. Hoffman bounced back in a big way in a different role - he has an ERA of 3.34 over his past 34 games, and has surrendered runs in just eight of those appearances.
The Blue Jays signed Hoffman to a three-year deal to be their closer ahead of the 2025 campaign, and move off of the pitcher after just a season and a half.
Hoffman struggled mightily with home runs in his first season in Toronto, with his 15 allowed ranking among the most in the majors among relief pitchers. The issue reared its head in a major way in Game 7 of the World Series, when he surrendered a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers that the Blue Jays would eventually lose in extras.
In Hoffman’s 11-year career with the Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Blue Jays, he has a 4.69 ERA with 638 strikeouts over 583.0 innings pitched.
Hill has a 5.80 ERA in 16 starts with the Twins High-A affiliate in Cedar Rapids. He was the seventh-ranked prospect in the Twins organization.
Klein was the 17th-ranked prospect in the Twins organization. He made his MLB debut against the Blue Jays on April 2. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning in an 11-4 win for the Blue Jays.
Klein made two further appearances with the Twins in 2026. He has a 4.15 ERA in 4.1 innings in MLB.
Klein has a 5.91 ERA in 64 innings with the Twins Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul.
Pena has split his time between Single-A Fort Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids. He’s slashing .300/.373/.362 with one home run and 47 RBI.
