Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins was of two minds about Jeff Hoffman during his end-of-season media availability Thursday, giving contradictory answers about his beleaguered closer about half and hour apart.

Asked if he believed that Hoffman, who led American League relievers with 15 home runs allowed this past season and gave up a game-tying home run to Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series , will be the Jays’ closer in 2026, Atkins did not say yes.

“The great thing about Jeff is he’s not married to that,” said Atkins. “Talking about cohesion and the team approach , he epitomizes it. I think he would be open to anything that makes us better.”

Later in the afternoon, though, when asked about other potential internal options to close, Atkins had

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