There are a few things on this Earth that I never want to see. Jeff Hoffman in an Atlanta Braves uniform is one of them:

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Jeff Hoffman drama the last few days, the former Phillies reliever had a 3-year, $40M deal on the table with the Orioles. Hoffman failed his physical with Baltimore due to an issue with his throwing shoulder, and Baltimore backed out of the deal. He’d eventually sign a 3-year, $30M deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

But before Hoffman failed his physical with Baltimore, he failed a physical with Atlanta as well, per Mark Bowman at MLB.com:

“Another source said the Braves’ deal with Hoffman would have been a five-year deal worth $45-48 million. The right-hander could have been given a chance to start before spending his final years of the deal as a reliever.” 

It’s been rumored all offseason that Jeff Hoffman wouldn’t be opposed to try and become a starting pitcher again. Hoffman started 50 combined games with the Rockies and Reds before coming to Philadelphia, logging a 5.64 ERA across 237.2 innings of starting ball with 47 home runs allowed.

With the way the reliever market has been this Winter, Hoffman had a chance to get a pretty nice payday, but this shoulder injury obviously held him back. In totality, it seems like he lost $10-$15 million.


Good on Dave Dombrowski for avoiding a new contract with Hoffman if something is clearly wrong with his shoulder, but thank god he’s not an Atlanta Brave.