Hoffman says that for days, there was no response to his request for a meeting that would include Padres owner John Moores -- and then last Friday, he was told by his agent, Rick Thurman, that Padres GM Kevin Towers had called and indicated that the team intended to withdraw its offer because word of the $4 million proposal had leaked out. "I didn't believe him," said Hoffman. "I told Thurman that I was seeing stuff on the internet that they still intended to negotiate."
But Towers reiterated to Thurman that there would be no offer, and when Hoffman learned this, he asked for a face-to-face meeting with Towers and Padres CEO Sandy Alderson. Fifteen minutes later, the Padres' offer was officially withdrawn, via fax. Hoffman said that when he spoke to Towers, the GM said, "No, we are no longer negotiating. We are going in another direction."
"I said to him, 'KT, after 16 years, you're telling me that you're ending the relationship over the phone?'"