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The Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves backed out of agreements to sign Jeff Hoffman because of concerns about the reliever’s pitching shoulder before he finalized a $33 million, three-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays last week.

“The stuff they saw on the MRIs, whatever they saw was what their team docs were saying,” he said Wednesday during the Blue Jays’ introductory videoconference. “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.”

A right-hander who turned 32 on Jan. 8, Hoffman went for in-person physicals for deals with the Orioles and Braves.

“All the flags, physical stuff, was as big a surprise to me as anybody,” he 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.”

Braves spokesman Jared Burleyson and Orioles spokeswoman Jackie Harig said their teams declined to comment.

Toronto gave Hoffman a deal that included a $5 million signing bonus and salaries of $6 million this year and $11 million in each of the following two seasons. He can earn up to $2 million annually in performance bonuses for innings pitched: $500,000 each for 60, 70, 80 and 90.

“When the team docs got their hands on me and everything for the actual physical orthopedic exam, there was really nothing to worry about,” Hoffman said. “My body’s moving great, range of motion, everything is normal for me and it’s as it would be midseason.”

Hoffman was last on the injured list in 2022 with Cincinnati, when he didn’t pitch after July 23 because of right forearm stiffness. He was on the IL from May 27 to July 21 in 2021 because of a sore right shoulder and was sidelined by right shoulder inflammation early in the 2018 season while with Colorado.

A first-time All-Star last year, Hoffman wound up with his original big league organization. He was selected by the Blue Jays with the ninth pick in the 2014 amateur draft and was traded to Colorado a year later. He had the Blue Jays’ draft card framed and on a wall as he spoke from his home in the Orlando, Florida, area.

“Been a little chaotic, obviously,” Hoffman said. “Not stuff that we necessarily agreed with when we were going through the process, but teams have their ways of looking at physicals and stuff like that, and at the end of the day, the ball’s in their court on that kind of stuff. So we’re really excited that Toronto was kind of in it from the beginning and kept contact through the whole process, and we always kind of felt like it was a really cool place that we could end up.”

Hoffman went 3-3 with a 2.17 ERA and 10 saves last season for the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies, earning his first All-Star selection in July. He set career bests for ERA, saves and appearances (68). He struck out 89 and walked 16 in 66⅓ innings, holding opposing hitters to a .197 batting average with a 0.96 WHIP. But he struggled badly in last year’s playoffs versus the New York Mets, going 1-2 while allowing six runs in 1⅓ innings over three outings in their division series.

Hoffman would earn $150,000 for winning a Cy Young Award, $125,000 for finishing second in the voting, $100,000 for third, $75,000 for fourth and $50,000 for fifth. He would receive $100,000 for winning Reliever of the Year and $75,000 for becoming a finalist, $50,000 each for making the All-Star team or winning World Series MVP, and $25,000 for winning League Championship Series MVP.

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Braves starting catcher Murphy out 4-6 weeks

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Braves starting catcher Murphy out 4-6 weeks

Atlanta Braves starting catcher Sean Murphy will miss the start of the season with a rib injury.

The one-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks with a cracked rib on his left side, the team said Monday.

Top prospect Drake Baldwin is a candidate to replace Murphy behind the plate for Opening Day at San Diego on March 27.

Murphy, 30, struggled last season after an abdominal strain on Opening Day and batted .193 with 10 homers and 25 RBIs in 72 games with the Braves in 2024. He is a career .233 hitter with 77 homers and 240 RBIs in 510 games with the then-Oakland Athletics (2019-22) and the Braves.

The Braves declined Travis d’Arnaud‘s $8 million option during the offseason, clearing the path for Murphy to be the No. 1 catcher. D’Arnaud signed with the Los Angeles Angels.

Chadwick Tromp is the only other catcher on the Atlanta 40-man roster. He hit .250 in 19 games in 2024.

Murphy made the National League All-Star team in 2023 and collected a Gold Glove at catcher with the Athletics in 2021.

Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Moustakas will sign 1-day deal, retire as Royal

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Moustakas will sign 1-day deal, retire as Royal

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Mike Moustakas will retire with Kansas City after spending 13 years in the majors and winning the World Series with the Royals in 2015.

The Royals announced Moustakas’ retirement Monday. The 36-year-old infielder will sign a one-day contract with his first big league team on May 31, and he will be honored before Kansas City’s home game against Detroit that day.

Moustakas hit .247 with 215 homers and 683 RBIs in 1,427 games, also playing for Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels. The three-time All-Star appeared in his last major league game with the Angels on Sept. 30, 2023.

Moustakas was the No. 2 pick in the 2007 amateur draft. He broke into the majors with Kansas City in 2011.

He became a key performer for the Royals during a memorable stretch for the franchise. He hit .284 with 22 homers and 82 RBIs in 147 games in 2015, helping the team win the AL Central. Then he drove in eight runs in the postseason as the Royals won the World Series for the first time since 1985.

Moustakas bashed a career-high 38 homers for Kansas City in 2017. He set a career best with 95 RBIs while playing for the Royals and Brewers in 2018.

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Astros planning to play Altuve mostly in left field

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Astros planning to play Altuve mostly in left field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Houston Astros are planning to play Jose Altuve mostly in left field this season, manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle on Monday.

A nine-time All-Star, three-time batting champion and the 2017 AL MVP, Altuve has played all but two of his 1,767 major league games at second base. He won the Gold Glove in 2015, and in 2020, he led the American League with the fewest errors, with four.

“Right now the plan is for him to play the majority of his games in left field,” Espada said, adding that moving Altuve “back and forth is something that I am going to avoid.”

The idea of moving Altuve to left was first broached when the team was looking to keep third baseman Alex Bregman, who wound up signing with the Boston Red Sox. If Bregman had returned to Houston, it might have forced newly acquired Isaac Paredes to shift to second base and Altuve to the outfield.

“Whatever I have to do for [Bregman] to stay, I’m willing to do it,” Altuve said at the team’s FanFest in January.

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