Philadelphia Phillies Rival Atlanta Braves Predicted to Poach All-Star Reliever

Will the Philadelphia Phillies lose their All-Star reliever this offseason?

Oct 6, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) pitches in the ninth inning against the New York Mets during game two of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park. / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t quite had the big shakeup this offseason that many were expecting, but this is still a team with high expectations coming into 2025.

It has been a fairly quiet offseason for the Phillies. After being eliminated by the New York Mets in the National League Division Series. The loss appeared like it was going to potentially result in Philadelphia making some big changes, but that hasn’t occurred yet.

There is still plenty of time to see some changes for the Phillies this offseason, but it seems like they are going to be running it back more so than making a major switch.

One of the areas where they did see a major switch was in their bullpen. Philadelphia signed Jordan Romano from the Toronto Blue Jays. The right-hander missed most of the season due to injury in 2024, but he was an All-Star closer the previous two seasons for the Blue Jays.

With the 31-year-old signing, that likely indicates that a couple of the key relievers who are free agents for Philadelphia won’t be back next year. Those two players are Carlos Estevez and Jeff Hoffman.

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently predicted the Phillies would lose Hoffman to the Atlanta Braves to a three-year, $39 million deal. He also highlighted the veteran right-hander potentially switching back to becoming a starter.

“If using Hoffman as a starter doesn't work or the Braves end up with a surplus of starting pitching depth, he could move to the bullpen and become one of the top setup men for closer Raisel Iglesias.”

After a shaky start to his career with the Colorado Rockies, Hoffman started to find his groove coming out of the bullpen in recent years. Starting with the Cincinnati Reds in 2022 when he fully transitioned to coming out of the bullpen, the veteran right-hander has improved.

In his first season with the Phillies in 2023, he totaled a (5-2) record and a 2.41 ERA. He followed up that strong campaign with another one in 2024, making his first All-Star appearance. Now, it seems like the veteran might be looking to give being a starter another try.

This has been a trend of late, as Clay Holmes of the Mets will also be trying to do the same.

Heading to the Braves would be an interesting landing spot for Hoffman considering how good of a job they do at developing pitchers. Atlanta has also just recently been able to help Reynaldo López make the change from reliever to starter.

For the Braves, this could be a high-reward signing if the veteran can pitch well as a starter. Furthermore, even if the transition doesn’t go smoothly, he proved that he can be an All-Star reliever, which is never a bad thing to have as a backup plan.