Hoffmann Makes Power Play for Spot on Yankees' Roster

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Winter Olympics brought Jamie Hoffmann a slight, wistful pang.

"Yeah, of course," he said Saturday. "Any time you get to watch that caliber of hockey, it's exciting."

Hoffmann, 25, had a slightly different vantage point than the rest of us.

While in high school, Hoffmann skated against Zach Parise. He played against Joe Pavelski and David Backes in the United States Hockey League seven years ago.

Hoffman, a longshot to make the Yankees roster after coming from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft, had to choose between hockey and baseball.

It was a decision that came out of nowhere, and he had 36 hours to decide.

"It's a weird story," Hoffman said.

A star forward and shortstop at New Ulm (Minn.) High School, Hoffmann chose hockey after graduation. He went to the Des Moines (Iowa) Buccaneers of the USHL, where he had 14 goals and 25 assists in 60 games.

The Carolina Hurricanes took him in the eighth round of the 2003 draft, which allowed them to control his rights for four years. And he took a scholarship offer from Colorado College.

For fun, the summer before heading to Colorado Springs, Hoffmann played American Legion baseball back in New Ulm. At one point that summer, then-Dodgers scout Jeff Schugel -- also from New Ulm and a distant cousin of Hoffmann's father, Rich -- was in town for a visit.

Schugel saw Jamie Hoffmann play and wanted to sign him. So he made an offer, and Hoffmann had "like a day and a half" to pick: college hockey or rookie ball with the Dodgers.

"I had no clue," Hoffmann said.

"Some of what came into the decision is hockey's pretty hard on your body. Those guys have no teeth. ... Once you're sore after a hockey game, you're hurting."

Hoffmann struggled at third base in 2004 -- "I quickly found out third wasn't my position," he said with a chuckle -- but took to the outfield the next summer and is considered a good center fielder.

His strength all along has been his full-throttle style of play. Maybe that's the hockey player showing through, or maybe that's who Hoffmann is and why he was attracted to hockey in the first place.

"I'm going to come hard and give 100 percent every day," Hoffmann said. "If that's what I need to bring to my team, that's what I'm going to keep bringing to the team. It's going to be my role, I'm going to keep trying to do it."

He made it to the majors last May, going 4-for-22 in 14 games. He hit .284 overall in Triple-A, but when the Dodgers traded for Jon Garland and Jim Thome down the stretch, they took Hoffmann off the 40-man roster to make room.

The Yankees got Hoffmann in December, as the Nationals took him from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft and traded him to New York for reliever Brian Bruney.

At the time, Hoffmann seemed to have a chance to make the Yankees as an extra outfielder. But since then, they have signed veterans Randy Winn and Marcus Thames.

The Yankees like Hoffmann's tools but also see a stiff, unorthodox swing. If they want to send him down, they must first offer him back to the Dodgers and also pass him through waivers.

Still, he feels he made the right decision.

"I'm happy," Hoffmann said, "with the way everything's gone so far."

After all, he has all his teeth.