The Orioles nearly handed out their first multiyear contract to a free agent pitcher since 2018, but now that player is a Toronto Blue Jay.

Jeff Hoffman, a star right-handed reliever for the Philadelphia Phillies the past two seasons, was in agreement with the Orioles on a multiyear contract, but the deal fell through after the Orioles flagged something on his physical.

Now, Hoffman is excited to be in the American League East, and he’ll have even more motivation when pitching against Baltimore.

“We can add them to the list,” he told reporters Wednesday during his introductory news conference on Zoom when asked if he’ll have a chip on his shoulder when facing the Orioles.

According to multiple reports, the first of which by FanSided, the Orioles still attempted to come to an agreement with Hoffman after they flagged his physical because of his shoulder, but he instead signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Blue Jays.

But the Orioles weren’t the only team to renege on an agreement with Hoffman because of his physical. The Atlanta Braves did the same thing as the first team to agree with Hoffman on a contract, only for it to fall through.

Hoffman said he doesn’t agree with the Orioles and Braves’ assessment of his shoulder.

“The stuff they saw on the MRIs, whatever they saw was what their team docs were saying,” Hoffman said. “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.”

Hoffman, a former starting pitcher with the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds, found success out of the bullpen for the Phillies. Since 2023, the 32-year-old posted a 2.28 ERA in 118 2/3 innings with a whopping 158 strikeouts. He was an All-Star last season.

“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.

“When the team docs got their hands on me and everything for the actual physical orthopedic exam 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 last landed on the injured list in 2022 with the Reds because of forearm stiffness. He also missed time with right shoulder inflammation in 2021 and 2018.

Hoffman will likely be the Blue Jays’ closer, a role he prefers. The contract is a reunion, as Toronto selected him with the ninth pick in the 2014 draft.

“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.”

This offseason, the Orioles have signed three pitchers for a combined $38 million: Charlie Morton ($15 million), Tomoyuki Sugano ($13 million) and Andrew Kittredge ($10 million). But all three deals were one-year contracts. The last time the Orioles signed a pitcher to a multiyear contract was Alex Cobb (four years, $57 million) in 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.