ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting that the San Francisco Giants were the “mystery team” that claimed Trevor Hoffman, and guesses that the claim was only done to block other playoff contenders from getting the all-time saves leader.
It’s a move that makes sense for the Giants, who are still trying to catch the Rockies for the NL Wildcard spot, and likely means that Hoffman isn’t going anywhere. From Olney:
In response to a general question about whether he anticipated making a
move that would compromise the Brewers’ bullpen in the days ahead,
Brewers GM Doug Melvin replied in an e-mail, “Probably not.”
So we can likely put this story to bed. Unless the Giants feel like they could actually use Hoffman (which is unlikely, with Brian Wilson posting 30 saves with a 3.00 ERA so far this year), he’ll be finishing the year with the Brewers. Hoffman has seemed disappointed with the way things have gone so far this year, but he also seems to realize that this team has potential to be very, very good. We’ll see if he returns for a similar salary next season, but at the very least it looks like Doug Melvin has his eyes on two compensation picks.
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