"Trevor Hoffman wants to give the free-agent market one good look before he determines his future.

The right-handed reliever, with a record 601 saves, told MLB.com on Tuesday that if there's a good fit for him to return as a closer in 2011, he'll take it. If not, he'll retire after 18 seasons. Hoffman, the former Padres and Brewers closer, turned 43 on Oct. 13.

"I'm going to wait to see what happens, see what's out there," said Hoffman, when reached by phone in San Diego, where he and his family still make their home. "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 parted ways with the Brewers after two seasons and became a free agent when the club declined to exercise a $7 million mutual option on Nov. 2. Hoffman's contract included a buyout that increased from $500,000 to $750,000, when he finished his 35th game of the season on Sept. 26.

Hoffman said that he's eyeing the D-backs situation, where old friend Kevin Towers is now the general manager. Towers, who was the GM of the Padres for virtually Hoffman's entire 16-year tenure there, has made it no secret that he's in the market for a closer and wants to rebuild a bullpen that had a third-worst in Major League history 5.74 ERA last season.

"I've known K.T. for such a long time and I figured having a little history there would help," Hoffman said about playing in Phoenix, which would keep him close to home. "But I don't know. I'm coming off a tough year. I don't know if people are going to be turned off by that or not. I hope the strong second half I had will compensate."

Hoffman's age and 10 saves this past season could be points of contention. After Hoffman blew five early opportunities, then-Brewers manager Ken Macha took Hoffman out of the closer role by mid-May and never reinstated him. The blown saves helped put the Brewers in a deep hole they never were able to climb out of, as Milwaukee finished third in the National League Central. "