Orioles reportedly backed out of deal with former All Star due to medical concerns

On Friday afternoon, former Phillies All Star reliever Jeff Hoffman landed a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays worth $33 million. Hoffman is coming off an All Star season in 2024 in which he pitched to a 2.17 ERA in 66.1 innings for the NL East champs.

However, Robert Murray of FanSided has reported that the right hander nearly wound up in Baltimore. According to Murray, Hoffman and the Orioles came to terms on a similar three-year deal worth $40 million, but Murray's sources say that Hoffman failed his physical with the Orioles' medical staff.

Murray's reporting suggests that the O's balked at Hoffman's shoulder. The righty has missed time with shoulder issues in the past, most recently in 2021. He spent 55 days on the IL in '21 with a shoulder impingement, and he was not himself on the mound. He pitched to a 4.56 ERA in 73 innings, working back and forth between the bullpen and the Reds' rotation.

Hoffman also missed time with shoulder problems in 2018, spending 25 days on the IL with what was reported as shoulder inflammation. Hoffman was with the Rockies at that point and he threw just 8.2 innings in the majors after spending the prior two years on the Rockies' major league staff.

Free agent reliever Jeff Hoffman reportedly failed a physical with the Orioles after coming to terms on a three-year deal

Earlier this month, Nick Stevens here at Birds Watcher speculated about Hoffman as a potential fit for the Orioles in 2025. We know that Hoffman wouldn't have been a perfect replacement for Corbin Burnes at the top of the rotation but there were a lot of things to like about Hoffman's performance in 2024 and his projections moving forward.

There had also been some speculation about Hoffman working his way into a deal like the one former Yankees' closer Clay Holmes got earlier this winter. Both pitchers have primarily worked out of their respective bullpens of late, but both are former starters reportedly looking to work their way back into the rotation, similar to what Seth Lugo did a couple years back.

Hoffman throws in the high-90's and has elite swing and miss stuff. The righty has struck out over 33% of batters in both of the last two seasons and saw his walk rate take a major step in the right direction in 2024.

Hoffman's deal includes a number of performance bonuses, with a couple of them centered around his number of innings pitched. That suggests that the Jays are at least considering moving him back to the rotation to see if Hoffman can handle being stretched back out. If he can, and he can retain most of the gains he's shown over the past two seasons, Hoffman is sure to be a problem for the rest of the AL East for the next couple years.