"Trevor Hoffman, baseball's all-time saves leader who spent the last two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, announced his retirement Tuesday.

An official announcement will come Wednesday in San Diego.

Hoffman finished his 18-year career with 601 saves, 42 more than New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who is still active. Hoffman, 43, told MLB.com that he will take a front-office job with the San Diego Padres, where he spent 16 seasons before signing with the Brewers.

"It's time to retire. It's time to move on," Hoffman told MLB.com. "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 has reason to believe that.

After making the all-star team in 2009 and finishing that year with 37 saves and a 1.83 earned-run average, Hoffman nose-dived in 2010. He blew five of his first 10 save chances as the Brewers plummeted in the standings and he finished with only 10 saves and a 5.89 ERA.

He eventually lost his closing job to John Axford but recorded his 600th save Sept. 7 at Miller Park, a milestone he said was important to him.

The Brewers offered Hoffman arbitration for the 2011 season, knowing he would decline in a gentlemen's agreement. As a Class B free agent, if Hoffman had decided to sign with another team, the Brewers would have received a supplemental first-round pick in the next draft.

Hoffman said he wanted to continue playing only if he could close again. A few teams kicked his tires, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, but nothing materialized.

"We weren't sure whether he was going to sign with Arizona with (former Padres general manager) Kevin Towers there or with San Diego to finish his career," Brewers GM Doug Melvin said Tuesday from the organization's scouting meetings in Arizona. "We didn't really expect it. If we got the pick it would be nice to have."