[Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from Rockies GM Jeff Bridich.]
Jeff Hoffman, the corresponding centerpiece of the Troy Tulowitzki trade to Toronto in 2015, will head to Cincinnati after the Reds and Rockies completed a two-fer trade Wednesday, the clubs confirmed.
The Reds acquired Hoffman, a 27-year-old right-hander, along with recent draft pick Case Williams, another righty. The Rockies netted right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson, once Cincinnati’s top prospect, and minor-league outfielder Jameson Hannah.
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“If he reaches his full potential,” Reds general manager Nick Krall said of Hoffman, “you’ve got a guy who is a solid big-league starter at the end of the day.”
The trade materialized over the past two weeks, Krall said, as he and Colorado general manager Jeff Bridich quickly settled on the basic parameters. The Reds were trying to fill out their rotation after apparently losing Trevor Bauer to free agency.
“It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t difficult, it was a normal conversation,” Krall said. Bridich echoed those thoughts by calling the trade a classic change of scenery-type move for Hoffman and Stephenson.
Here are the particulars:
What the Reds are getting
RHP Jeff Hoffman
After dominating the Cape Cod League in 2014, Hoffman was headed toward being a top-five pick in the draft before Tommy John surgery pushed him down the board. Even then, he fell only to the No. 9 overall pick, selected by Toronto. At 6-foot-5, with a fastball that reached 98 mph and a majors-ready curveball, Hoffman was once Colorado’s fourth-rated prospect.
He never broke through in Denver, perhaps bitten by the struggles of pitching at elevation. Over five seasons, including 68 games (38 starts) and 230 2/3 innings, Hoffman went 10-16 with a 6.40 ERA. His struggles eventually led him to the bullpen, where the Rockies used him as a long reliever.
Hoffman saw his writing on the wall. Last winter, he overhauled his mechanics, modeling himself after White Sox starter Lucas Giolito by streamlining his windup to minimal movement. Without any minor-league options, Hoffman said he knew the 2020 season would be his make-or-break year.
“I was at the point where I knew something was going to have to change,” he said. “Whether it was adding pitches, hiding the ball better, being more deceptive. Something had to happen. I need to get more outs. Because things have to get better … Either I make my pitches or I go home.”
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Hoffman now rides the line between the bullpen and rotation depth, capable of throwing multiple innings in relief or stretching back into a starter. The Reds should hope a change of scenery outside of Coors Field can unlock more upside in Hoffman.
RHP Case Williams
Just 18, Williams was a surprise pick of the Rockies in the June draft, after not appearing on Baseball America’s Top 500 or MLB Pipeline’s top 200 lists. But he was the best prep pitcher in Colorado and played on the Rockies’ fall scout team, where Reds area scout Dan Cholowsky saw him up close.
Williams was committed to Santa Clara, but with a 96 mph fastball and a sharp-cutting curveball, he jumped into the fourth round. The Reds were set to draft him with the 113th pick, but the Rockies sneaked in front to draft him three picks earlier.
“Colorado picked our pocket,” Krall said. “Our guys really liked him. He’s a big, strong high school kid that’s got good stuff. He’s got a chance to have three solid pitches. He has a really good chance to be a potential big-league starter.”
2020 @TheCaseWilliams carving guys up during live bp. Curveball brought out the ⚔️ @FlatgroundApp pic.twitter.com/6WVfVqJHIl
— Sean McCourt (@THROWformance) May 30, 2020
What the Rockies are getting
RHP Robert Stephenson
The 27-year-old Stephenson was long the team’s top prospect, but never became the top-of-the-rotation starter that the scouts dreamed on when he was taken in the first round of the 2011 draft. He did, however, become an effective reliever in 2019, relying mainly on his slider.
Stephenson was placed on the injured list with a back sprain after his first appearance of 2020, an outing that saw him give up a pair of runs on a home run. He missed a month and was never really in sync upon his return and his spot in the bullpen had been surrendered by the time he came back, pitching mostly when the team was behind or ahead by many runs.
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The Reds took Stephenson with the 27th overall pick in the 2011 draft, the same draft that featured future teammates Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray and Archie Bradley, as well as Gerrit Cole, José Fernández and Blake Snell, among other pitching notables (not to mention the bevy of position players like Francisco Lindor, Anthony Rendon and Mookie Betts). Stephenson was ranked by Baseball America as the team’s top prospect from 2014-16 and was rated as the No. 19 overall prospect in baseball by the magazine before the 2014 season. In the minors, he had a blazing fastball but never seemed to have the command to go with it.
Stephenson entered 2019 out of options, with a full-time move to the bullpen as his only option to stick with the club. Under new pitching coach Derek Johnson, Stephenson ditched his curveball completely and lessened the use of his changeup to concentrate mostly on his slider and use his fastball off the slider. He found success with that formula in 2019 and was primed to be a big part of the team’s bullpen before his back sidelined him in 2020.
“Robert was really good for us two years ago,” Krall said. “He struggled a little bit this year, but I think it’s just two guys that both parties felt a solid change of scenery might help.”
OF Jameson Hannah
Acquired from the A’s in the deal that sent Tanner Roark to Oakland at the trade deadline in 2019, Hannah played all of 18 games in the Reds system, all at High-A Daytona. He hit .274/.339/.369 at High-A Stockton in the California League before being traded to the Reds and being sent to the Florida State League, where he hit .224/.325/.299 in just 78 plate appearances after the trade.
A second-round pick out of Dallas Baptist in 2018, the left-handed-hitting center fielder is 23 and, like every other minor-league player, missed a crucial year of development this season.
(Photo of Jeff Hoffman: Stephen Brashear / Getty Images)