From DJF:
Peter Gammons calls Hoffman “a special guy” and says that this is a great gamble, as many teams looked at the medicals on Hoffman, who just had Tommy John surgery (or he otherwise would have been picked much higher), and thought that the operation was clean and that he should be back in 15 months ready to go. The success rate on Tommy John isn’t 100%, but this is a very smart gamble for a club that has two picks here. They save money for elsewhere in the draft, and by taking him at nine they have a lower slot recommendation to begin negotiations with the eleventh pick at. That saves even more pool money to use later on, and shouldn’t be an issue, with a lot of talent that they still thought might be available still around. A better gamble than Phil Bickford. Let’s say that.
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