"It is spring training. Pitchers are throwing. Hitters are hitting.

In a corner of the Padres bullpen at the Peoria Sports Complex, Trevor Hoffman is watching. He has no glove. He is not gripping a baseball.

He interrupts his watching ever so briefly to exchange a word with Luke Gregerson.

Gregerson goes back to throwing. And the game's all-time saves leader backs off a step and resumes watching.

Certainly, even at 43, Hoffman must feel the urge to grab a ball and throw a change-up. The juices have to be flowing for this 18-season veteran and future Hall of Famer.

Trevor Hoffman is going to come out of retirement any day now, right? He has to be having second thoughts.

"Nope, not a bit," Hoffman said with no hint of a grin. "I have moved on. I'm not looking back."

Not his style. Not his history.

This, he says, is no different from 1991, when he put down his shortstop glove forever and embarked upon a pitching career while a minor leaguer with the Cincinnati Reds.

"I made that transition and never gave it a 'what if' thought," said Hoffman. "I don't look back."

His playing career is thus closed. Simultaneous with his decision to retire as a player, Hoffman accepted the Padres' offer to rejoin the team as a "special assistant to baseball operations."

Retiring is not a decision Hoffman made lightly, which is why he says there are no second thoughts.

"That's why I waited so long to make the decision about retiring," he said. "I wanted to be sure. I am sure. Things were falling off."

However, the No. 51 uniform still fits Hoffman. For the first week of spring training, Hoffman has been back in uniform assisting Padres manager Bud Black and his staff.

No one, not even Hoffman, knows exactly what direction being a "special assistant to baseball operations" will take the maestro of Hell's Bells."