All-time saves king Hoffman retires

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- All-time major league saves leader Trevor Hoffman said Tuesday he is retiring after a stellar 18-year career as a relief pitcher.

Hoffman, 43, who pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers the past two seasons, told MLB.com he's hanging it up and will return to the San Diego Padres in a front-office role.

"It's time to retire. It's time to move on," Hoffman told the Web site. "This is more of a self-evaluation. I expect to pitch at a certain level and I had to be honest with myself that I wasn't certain I could maintain that anymore."

Hoffman retires with 601 career saves, including 552 while playing for the Padres from 1993-2008. He has 42 more saves than the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, 41, who is second on the all-time list.

The Padres were expected to officially announce the retirement Wednesday and define Hoffman's new role with the team.