With the hard-to-stomach end to Game 7 of the World Series still fresh and painful, are the Blue Jays planning to stick with Jeff Hoffman as their closer?
General manager Ross Atkins certainly didn’t sound like a man committed to that idea when he met with the media for his season-ending news conference on Thursday at the Rogers Centre.
When asked if he sees Hoffman, who surrendered a game-tying solo home run to light-hitting Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning of the Game 7 extra-innings loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, returning as closer, Atkins didn’t exactly endorse the idea.
“The great thing about Jeff is he’s not married to that,” Atkins said in the news conference portion of his availability. “Talking about the cohesion and team approach (of the Jays), he epitomizes that.
“I think he would be open to anything that makes us better.
Jays ‘have some options’ in bullpen
Later, when pressed on Hoffman in a separate meeting with a smaller group of beat reporters, Atkins elaborated on his thoughts about Hoffman, who he believed was money throughout most of the post-season.
“Jeff did it for us all year effectively and dominated through the playoffs,” the GM said, before listing Yimi Garcia, Louis Varland and adding “depending on other acquisitions and decisions we feel like we have some options there.”
It would be wrong to read too much into Atkins comments beyond the fact that it’s clear the team will at least explore the opportunity of an upgrade. In fairness, that’s how the team always operates in the off-season, a meticulous process it undergoes in the aftermath of every season.
Hoffman, of course, took his miscue hard when the Dodgers tied the game with the Blue Jays just two outs away from wrapping up their first title since 1993.
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