TORONTO -- The Blue Jays have found their closer.

Jeff Hoffman has signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Blue Jays, the club announced Friday. Incentives in the deal could take the total value as high as $39 million, a source told MLB.com¡¯s Mark Feinsand.

This is a full-circle moment for everyone involved. Hoffman was the Blue Jays¡¯ first-round pick in 2014, ninth overall, and just over a year later was traded to the Rockies in the Troy Tulowitzki deal. Now 32, the big right-hander took years to find his footing in the big leagues and never truly stuck as a starter, but he¡¯s reinvented himself as a back-end reliever and will have an opportunity to replace Jordan Romano, who recently joined Hoffman¡¯s old club, the Phillies.

¡°We are excited to add Jeff to our bullpen. His arsenal, strike throwing, and ability to miss bats against all types of hitters is elite and will undoubtedly make us better,¡± GM Ross Atkins said in a statement. ¡°Jeff will get an opportunity to close games for us this season. His track record, competitiveness and experience make him a great complement to this group. We look forward to welcoming him, his wife Marissa, and their children Tytan, Houstyn, Jetsyn, and Lennyn to Toronto.¡±

This answers any questions still lingering about whether Hoffman would try to start again -- potentially following a similar path to Clay Holmes with the Mets -- or stick in the bullpen.

Besides, why mess with a good thing? Hoffman is coming off a dominant season with the Phillies, posting a 2.17 ERA with 89 strikeouts over 66 1/3 innings. He limited walks, too, while his whiff rate and chase rate each ranked in the 96th percentile among MLB pitchers last season. The deeper you dig into Hoffman¡¯s metrics, the more you find to like. There should still be a level of familiarity with the organization, too, even nearly 10 years down the road from the Tulowitzki trade, beginning with manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker.

PITCHER PROFILE: JEFF HOFFMAN

Hoffman is a completely different pitcher than the kid the Blue Jays selected out of East Carolina University. His breakout over the past two seasons has coincided with a notable shift in how he¡¯s attacking hitters, which is why it¡¯s easy to believe in.

Hoffman hammers away with his slider as a primary pitch, which produced a 45.2 percent whiff rate in 2024 and was rarely barreled up by hitters. His fastball, which averaged 96.6 mph, immediately becomes one of the heaviest pitches in the Blue Jays¡¯ bullpen. That pitch topped out at 98.7 mph a year ago.

Across the board, Hoffman¡¯s numbers point to a pitcher capable of closing games in the big leagues ¡­ but his experience in that role is the one wrinkle here. Hoffman has saved just 12 games in his career, including 10 last season for the Phillies. The Blue Jays still have a long way to go before they¡¯re handing Hoffman the ball in meaningful games down the stretch, but the Blue Jays are betting heavily on him thriving in the ninth inning. While Yimi Garc¨ªa and Chad Green could each close games, Hoffman will clearly be given every opportunity to run with this job.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

John Schneider¡¯s life just got a little easier. Pete Walker¡¯s, too.

Having a clear, established closer in the ninth inning will allow the Blue Jays to move Garc¨ªa around in the late innings, a role he nailed in 2023 and the first half of ¡¯24 before being traded to the Mariners. The same goes for Green and Erik Swanson, who had an excellent home stretch in ¡¯24 and could be an excellent option for the Blue Jays in the sixth or seventh innings if he carries that momentum over.

The Blue Jays still need to add another legitimate reliever -- or two -- but this is a significant step in the right direction and the largest contract that this front office, under Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro, has handed to a reliever. While the organization was open to the idea of using a closer by committee, this one move simplifies so many decisions and slides the rest of the bullpen into more comfortable spots.