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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 7, 2005Bruce BochyKevin TowersDALLAS, TEXAS KEVIN TOWERS: This is certainly a big night in San Diego. I would say that in my ten years here in San Diego, this is probably the most significant signing that I've had here when it comes to not only what this guy means to this organization and the City, and of course to Bruce. We came to terms about an hour ago with No. 51, our closer, Trevor Hoffman, for a two-year deal with a vesting option for a third year, which will ensure that he will be in a Padre uniform through the 2007 season and hopefully many more after that. This guy is the face of our organization. I can't put it into words what he means to our community, his teammates, to the Minor League players we have in our system. He is truly one guy that I could say that sincerely pitches for the name on the front of his jersey, not the name on the back of his jersey, and you won't find that in this day and age very often. I wasn't a big ACDC fan until Trevor came on board. There was one year where I didn't get to hear Hell's Bells, and I'm happy to say sitting up in my box in the eighth and ninth inning, it will be music to my ears once again that I'll be able to hear it, and I'm sure echo that for many fans of San Diego. He's a class individual, he has some incredible statistics over his years in San Diego. We're hopeful that in 2006, he will be the all-time saves leader. It's certainly within his grasp. I would not be surprised if this guy surpasses the 500 mark and hopefully be one of the few relievers that gets a chance to go into Cooperstown as a Hall of Famer. I'm going to turn it over here to Bruce. Alls I can say is we're breathing a little bit easier here right now over the last several hours, I know that there's a couple of clubs that were very aggressive, and I did not sleep too well the last couple of nights. But now that Trevor is on board right now, I'm going to have a much more enjoyable evening as many of our fans, and certainly my blackberry has gotten about 100 e-mails every evening from fans wanting to know if he was coming back or not. We're totally excited, really looking forward to seeing him back in a Padre uniform and I'll let Bruce say a few words about him. BRUCE BOCHY: Well, we went into the winter here with Trevor being our No. 1 priority, so as Kevin said, we're so excited to get this done. It went a little closer than I had hoped. As far as me, I know how fortunate I've been to have a closer like Trevor Hoffman; not just a closer, but a world-class closer. I could not imagine calling down in the bullpen and the ninth inning and not having Trevor. I can't tell you how excited I am. I know what he does to our ballclub, just not the talent that he brings on the mound but what he does in the clubhouse. He's a special guy and he is one that stabilizes the bullpen, but also the clubhouse, and he's such a calming influence; a guy that is a leader on our club. So this is huge for us and I know for me, certainly there's going to be a sense of comfort now in the ninth inning now that we have Trevor back. So we're very, very excited. Q. The financial terms and secondly, you went into the off-season obviously with Giles and Hoffman and Hernandez being out on the market and you closed two of them, is there any possibility there's any money left in the budget to go for the trifecta? KEVIN TOWERS: The terms, it was a two-year deal guaranteed at $13.5 million with a vesting option that could make it $19 million based on games finished, the vesting option. It contributing combination number of games finished over two years. Going into this off-season, reminded me a little bit of 1998 off-season with Caminiti and Brown, very popular players coming off a winning season, and faced with three of your most popular players that could be exiting. We were really hopeful that we cosign at least one of the three; two of the three we thought was a real long shot; the trifecta, couldn't even imagine. Pomona is still available. He has not been signed yet. I guess there's always that chance. I never want to say never. We didn't think we would be able to find a way to get Giles and Hoffman in our budget, and found some ways to be somewhat creative and move some dollars around. I'm not going to say never on Pomona, as well.
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