Blue Jays-Phillies closer swap comes into focus with winner still to be determined

TORONTO — When Jordan Romano walks out from the visitors' bullpen at Rogers Centre this week it will feel strange for almost everyone in the stadium, from Toronto Blue Jays personnel to fans in the seats.

Nonetheless, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he thinks the reception will be warm.

"They rightfully should cheer him," Schneider said. "He's a local dude, did so many good things here, some memorable moments in the clubhouse celebrating. I think he'll be very well received."

Romano, a native of Markham, Ont., will be in town with the Philadelphia Phillies for a three-game series beginning Tuesday. It will be his first time returning to Toronto for game action since signing with the Phillies in the off-season on the heels of six seasons with the Blue Jays and 11 years in the organization.

Schneider watched the 32-year-old Romano grow up and says he's been exchanging texts with the right-hander as the reunion neared.

"Looking forward to seeing him," said Schneider. "Probably going to tell him that he's tipping all of his pitches and try to mess with him a little bit."

Romano's return is only half of the intriguing narrative that will unfold this week, though. The other half is that Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman will also face off against his former team. The Blue Jays and Phillies essentially pulled off a closer swap in the off-season in what was a truly unique situation.

The Blue Jays cut Romano ahead of the Nov. 22 deadline for clubs to offer contracts for the 2025 season. The right-hander, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his throwing elbow last July, was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $7.75 million, and the Blue Jays could’ve offered him a minimum of $6.2 million in arbitration.

Romano ultimately signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract with Philadelphia that included a $500,000 bonus if he throws 60 innings. Just over a month later, the Blue Jays inked Hoffman, who had spent the previous two seasons as a high-leverage reliever with the Phillies, to a three-year, $33 million deal.

"They checked in a lot," Hoffman told Sportsnet recently about his free-agent contract discussions with the Phillies. "But once it came down to when negotiations started, they were usually not anywhere near where everybody else was at.

"I loved my time there," he added. "The open market is so competitive. I knew once the extension wasn't going to happen that it was kind of who knows where I was going to end up. I knew there was a good chance that I wouldn't be back there."

Hoffman said he's happy with his decision to join the Blue Jays and Romano has said as much about his new club in interviews over the winter. Nonetheless, the two will be linked and compared to one another for as long as they remain with their current clubs.

And that comparison has been interesting this season.

The numbers show that Hoffman has outperformed Romano, yet both hurlers have produced well below their career norms.

Look a little deeper and there's a story within a story. Hoffman shot out the gate in dominant form and looked like the most impactful player on the Blue Jays' roster for a stretch. Romano, on the other hand, struggled so badly that he was booed by fans in Philadelphia.

However, as the calendar turned to May, their numbers began to reverse. Hoffman interspersed some strong performances with a handful of ugly outings, while Romano settled down considerably, allowing runs in just two of his 12 appearances.

"After a rough start, I think he's kind of gotten back to what he's been doing for a long time," said Schneider of Romano. "I've said it about our guys, it's kind of the life of a high-leverage reliever. He was under the microscope there for a while in Philly and handled it really, really well."

Hoffman, meanwhile, says he's been working with Blue Jays coaches to identify the reason behind his struggles. That work began to take shape after he was hit hard in consecutive outings in Anaheim in early May.

"We really dove in and just tried to pick apart some things," said Hoffman. "Some of my pitches weren't doing the stuff that we want them to do, so we made a couple of tweaks and that kind of got me back on the right track."

One such change involved correcting a fastball that was leaking. Hoffman didn't need to alter his mechanics, he said, but instead focused on throwing the pitch with more "intent."

"It's more of a mental thing than a physical thing," he said.

That's worked for the right-hander at times like his two electric outings in Seattle that directly followed those struggles against the Angels. Finding consistency is still a work in progress, though. Hoffman blew save opportunities against Tampa Bay and San Diego in May and allowed a two-run homer during his outing against the Athletics on Saturday before easily retiring the side the next day.

As for facing his former club this week, Hoffman acknowledged he's had the date circled on his calendar.

"Definitely," he said. "That's a great team. When that type of offence comes in, obviously you're not necessarily excited about it, but that would be a good test for us as a group."

He's also friends with many Phillies players and is looking forward to catching up with them and their families. No plans are concrete, yet, but he will at least try to hang out and go for a meal.

"But, once you step on the field, it'll be like, 'I don't know 'em,'" said Hoffman.  "That's the way I treat it. I'm trying to get everybody I can."