Trevor Hoffman retires from pitching to take front-office job with Padres

Baseball’s all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman has thrown his final changeup, deciding at age 43 to retire and return to the San Diego Padres in a front-office job.

The Beverly Hills Sports Council, which represents Hoffman, confirmed Tuesday that he is done after recording 601 saves in 18 seasons.

Hoffman played the bulk of his career with San Diego after being acquired as a rookie from the Florida Marlins in 1993 during the Padres’ infamous “Fire Sale” that stripped away most of their high-paid veterans. He left San Diego as a free agent following the 2008 season after contract talks abruptly ended, and pitched with the Milwaukee Brewers for two seasons.

MLB.com first reported Hoffman’s retirement.

Hoffman didn’t return messages seeking comment. Hoffman is scheduled to appear at a news conference at Petco Park on Wednesday morning.

Padres co-owner Jeff Moorad said Hoffman will spend the next year familiarizing himself with several departments, including baseball operations, and then the two sides will determine what area will be best for him.

“Clearly, Trevor is one of the most significant players that the organization has ever had and we felt it only appropriate for him to return to the Padres family,” Moorad told the Associated Press. “We’re thrilled that he was agreeable with coming back.”

Angels, Alberto Callaspo agree to one-year deal

Infielder Alberto Callaspo and the Angels have agreed to a $2-million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. General Manager Tony Reagins announced the deal.

Callaspo batted .265 with 27 doubles, 10 home runs and 56 runs batted in in 58 games with the team last season.

The Angels have seven remaining arbitration-eligible players: Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, Kendry Morales, Mike Napoli, Jered Weaver and Reggie Willits.

Brad Penny to sign with Tigers

Right-handed pitcher Brad Penny has agreed to a $3-million, one-year contract with the Detroit Tigers, a person familiar with the negotiation told the Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the agreement hasn’t been announced.

Carlos Gonzalez finalizes deal with Rockies

Carlos Gonzalez has finalized his $80-million, seven-year contract with the Colorado Rockies.

Gonzalez receives a $3-million signing bonus and salaries of $1 million this year, $5 million in 2012, $7.5 million in 2013, $10.5 million in 2014. $16 million in 2015, $17 million in 2016 and $20 million in 2017. If traded, he would receive a $1-million payment.

NASCAR to stick with 400-mile race at Fontana

After a shortened race helped produce closer racing and ended with a thrilling finish, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana said it would stick with a 400-mile event when it holds its next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on March 27.

The sprawling track, which seats 92,000, formerly held two 500-mile Cup races a year but had suffered attendance declines, and NASCAR last August announced that one of its races would be moved to Kansas Speedway starting this season. Among the complaints were that races were too long on the wide, two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval where the cars often would get strung out and passing was sparse.

But when Auto Club Speedway held its most recent Cup race last October, it shortened the race to 400 miles and the result was one of the most exciting races in years, with cars sometimes racing three- and four-wide and Tony Stewart winning by a mere half a second over Clint Bowyer.

A shorter race forces Cup drivers and their crews to shift strategy because there is at least one less pit stop than in a 500-mile race, and to get their cars into contention sooner before the final laps.

— Jim Peltz

Galaxy acquires forward Adam Cristman from D.C. United

Having lost last season’s leading goal scorer Edson Buddle to FC Ingolstadt 04 of the German second division, the Galaxy tried to patch the hole left in its offense by acquiring forward Adam Cristman from D.C. United.

Cristman, 26, is a four-year Major League Soccer veteran out of the University of Virginia, where Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena launched his career, and has played for the New England Revolution and Sporting Kansas City as well as D.C. United.

The Galaxy traded its first pick in the Jan. 18 MLS Supplemental Draft to get Cristman, who has scored 12 goals in 68 career MLS games.

— Grahame L. Jones

Riesch, Poutiainen share slalom victory; Vonn fails to finish

Germany’s Maria Riesch and Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen shared a slalom victory at a World Cup slalom run at Flachau, Austria.

Lindsey Vonn, the three-time overall champion, straddled a gate and failed to finish her first run for the fourth straight race. Riesch extended her lead over Vonn in the overall standings to 196 points.

Brock Lesnar, Junior Dos Santos get roles in ‘Ultimate Fighter’ reality show

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will be a coach on the organization’s reality fighting show “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV, matched against future opponent Junior Dos Santos, the UFC announced.

Filming will begin later this month in Las Vegas, and the show, featuring aspiring UFC welterweights, will premiere on Spike on March 30.

Lesnar and Dos Santos are scheduled to fight June 11 in Vancouver, UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta told The Times.

— Lance Pugmire

Vitali Klitschko to fight Odlanier Solis

Vitali Klitschko will defend his WBC heavyweight title against undefeated Cuban fighter Odlanier Solis on March 19 in Cologne, Germany.

Solis, the 2004 Olympic champion, is 17-0 with 12 knockouts and is the No. 1-ranked WBC challenger. Vitali Klitschko is 41-2, with 38 KOs.

Washington basketball coach says police are investigating a player

Washington men’s basketball Coach Lorenzo Romar said the school is aware of a police investigation “about an allegation in regards to one of our student-athletes.”

Romar declined to go into many details. He repeated the allegation is being taken seriously, but “there is not nearly enough information at this point to determine what is going to be done here.”

The university issued a statement Monday night confirming it had learned of a police investigation based on allegations surrounding a current student-athlete at the school.

The 17th-ranked Huskies, the only ranked team from the Pac-10, are off to a 4-0 start in conference play, their best since starting 6-0 during the 1983-84 season.

Carmelo Anthony trade might be on hold

Listening to Nets Coach Avery Johnson, the monster deal to bring Carmelo Anthony from Denver to New Jersey might be on hold.

Hours before leaving for a four-game West Coast trip, Johnson said he didn’t expect any roster changes during the trip.

Johnson refused to guarantee there wouldn’t be any changes, but it might be tough to make a deal involving more than a dozen players, including eight from the Nets, with the team playing four games in six days.

The much-publicized deal would have the Nets sending point guard Devin Harris, rookie power forward Derrick Favors, veteran Troy Murphy and others to either Denver or Detroit in a swap that would land Anthony in New Jersey with Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and others.