Trevor Hoffman still wants to pitch
Trevor Hoffman, formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers, still can throw strikes and blow past people, but after 18 years in the big leagues, it would be naive of teams to think he has a lot left in the tank.
He is going to test the free agent market first to see what he can find, but currently it is unsure who will take a chance on Hoffman and his 43-year-old body. The Brewers declined his $7 million option for the 2011 season, effectively pushing him towards free
agency, or to retirement.
"I'm going to wait to see what happens, see what's out there," said Hoffman according to
mlb.com. "It's not a situation where I'm going to pursue it very hard. If it's something that makes sense, if it's an opportunity for me to close, I'll look at it. If it's something that doesn't make any sense, I'll probably retire."
Hoffman is currently the all time Major League Baseball leader in saves with 601, but if he does not play this season, it is likely that his record will fall to the New York Yankees Mariano Rivera, who is sitting at 559 saves.
Hoffman’s season last year was not one of his best, especially coming up to a contract season. He finished the year with 50 appearances, but had a 5.89 earned run average in 47.1 innings.
These are definitely not the Trevor Hoffman numbers everyone has been used to seeing in the National League, considering four years ago when he reeled off 46 saves and 63 innings pitched. It will be anyone’s guess which Hoffman shows up this season, if he
gets picked up.
So far, it seems that the Arizona Diamondbacks have been the only team to express any interest in Hoffman’s services, as they have quite a few free agent relief pitchers.
"Usually [money] is what it always comes down to," Hoffman said according to
mlb.com. "It'll be interesting to see if [the D-backs] get back to me. I'm open for anything. I want to take a look at all my options."
If Hoffman does get picked up, it will more than likely be for an experience role, and developing the up and coming relief pitchers in an organization.
Tags: