In his introductory press conference with the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, right-hander Jeff Hoffman expressed his surprise at the concern brought about by his physical with the Orioles and Braves and vowed that the decision from Baltimore to back off its agreement with the reliever would add fire in 2025 to their intradivision matchups.

Shortly after Hoffman agreed to a deal with the Blue Jays, a report from Fansided said concern from the Orioles regarding Hoffman’s physical prevented what would have been a three-year deal from occurring. A few days later, a report from MLB.com stated that a deal with the Braves also fell through because of Hoffman’s physical.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the situation, the Orioles didn’t fully renege their contract offer to Hoffman. Instead, the club revised its offer based on its assessed risk from the physical, the source said. At that point, multiple other teams engaged with Hoffman and his representation, the source said, before Hoffman landed with Toronto.

The Orioles declined to comment.

Hoffman is coming off a season in which he produced a 2.17 ERA with 10 saves, as well as his first All-Star appearance, for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has thrown at least 44 2/3 innings in each of his last four seasons.

In a subsequent move, the Orioles signed right-hander Andrew Kittredge to a one-year, $10 million deal that includes a club option for 2026.

According to The Associated Press, Hoffman said the Orioles’ and Braves’ concern stemmed from “the stuff they saw on the MRIs.” The 32-year-old said the determination from team doctors in Baltimore and Atlanta is “not any bit in line with the way I feel, though, so it’s not something that I’m really concerned about or worried about.”

“All the flags, physical stuff, was as big a surprise to me as anybody,” Hoffman said. “If you can check my kind of track record over the past few seasons, I’ve been as healthy as anybody. It’s a nonissue for me. It’s just something that they wanted to bring up and the Blue Jays see me for what I am. So I’d rather be in a place like that anyways.”

Hoffman said a physical orthopedic exam from team doctors showed “there was really nothing to worry about. My body’s moving great, range of motion, everything is normal for me and it’s as it would be midseason.”

Hoffman hasn’t appeared on the injured list since 2022, when his season with the Cincinnati Reds was shut down after July 23 due to forearm stiffness. He has had two spells on the injured list for his shoulder, one in 2018 and another in 2021.

Asked whether there would be added motivation to matchups with the Orioles, Hoffman said there would be. Baltimore travels to Toronto for opening day in March.

“We can add them to the list,” Hoffman said, according to the Toronto Sun. “That’s definitely something I enjoy, finding those edges. Obviously when you go through something like this, there’s going to be a little bit of a chip that comes with it.”