Toronto Blue Jays Could Have Trade Partner in Place For Struggling Reliever

· Yahoo Sports

On the list of disappointing seasons in the 50-year history of the Toronto Blue Jays organization, this season might go down as one of the most forlorn for fans of the team.

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Coming off a season where the club won the first American League pennant since 1993 and made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series before falling in extra innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers, expectations were high for the Blue Jays as potential contenders.

Due to a stretch of injuries and regressions from several players, the Blue Jays are 47-57 (after a 6-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday), last place in the American League East and 13.5 games out of first place in the division.

One of the players who has gone through his series of struggles this series has been reliever Jeff Hoffman.

The 2024 All-Star entered 2026, his second with Toronto, as the team's closer but lost that role as the season went on.

That role has since been taken over by Louis Varland, who's in the middle of a historic season with the Blue Jays.

Hoffman has a 4.30 ERA and has struck out 67 batters in 44 innings pitched across 47 appearances. He has 11 holds and five saves in nine opportunities.

Hoffman signed a three-year, $33 million contract with Toronto ahead of the 2024 season after a solid two-year stretch with the Philadelphia Phillies, which included the only nod to the Midsummer Classic in his career.

Based on a recent report, Hoffman could potentially go back to his old home.

According to an article from MLB insider Bob Nightengale for USA Today, one of the items on the checklist for the Phillies at the trade deadline is a late-inning/high-leverage reliever. Based on the report, Philadelphia would "love" to bring Hoffman back to the fold.

Due to the Blue Jays' struggles, the Rays' and Yankees' consistent performance throughout the season and the Red Sox's recent resurgence, time is running out, if it hasn't already, for Toronto to make a run back into contention.

If Toronto doesn't make a surge in the next week-and-a-half, there's a strong chance that the defending American League champions could find themselves sellers at the trade deadline.

Due to Hoffman's struggles and Varland's excellence as the team's closer, there's a good chance the former finds himself as one of the pieces being moved, and it might be an ideal situation for him to find himself back with the Phillies given the success he had there.

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