A jarring sight: Hoffman and Smoltz in new jerseys

Remember Michael Jordan in a Washington Wizards jersey? Emmitt Smith in Arizona Cardinals gear? Willie Mays playing for the New York Mets? (And for you real old-timers out there, Babe Ruth with the Boston Braves?)

That's similar to what fans of the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves will be seeing in April.

All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman will be wearing a Milwaukee Brewers uniform this spring. It looks like John Smoltz will be wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey. Combined, they played more than 36 seasons in one city for one team, becoming almost iconic in their service to their teams.

And in two swoops of the pen, gone.

"The toughest thing in sports is to see Hall of Famers leave who are identified with one franchise," said Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes, to USA Today. "It rarely ends gracefully."

The divorce from San Diego was messy for Hoffman. The Padres are cutting payroll drastically as they change ownership, and they've apparently made the decision that they can't make any decisions from the heart instead of the head. Hoffman doesn't have the great stuff anymore, and that made him expendable. He's still getting a nice deal from the Brewers.

The Smoltz deal - which is pending a physical - came out of left field. And it left some angry people behind in Atlanta. The Red Sox more than doubled the Braves' offer for the 41-year-old right-hander, giving him a one-year, $5.5 million contract with incentives that could push it to as much as $10 million. For a guy coming off shoulder surgery, that's quite a gamble.

And how many starters to the Red Sox need? Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Brad Penny, Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz and Smoltz are all in the fold, not to mention prospect Michael Bowden. There might be a trade in the Red Sox's near future.

Trivia question: Here's a good one, from a wire story on Smoltz's signing. Smoltz would become the eighth player with 20 years with one team who switched to another. The answer: Hank Aaron, Phil Cavarretta, Ty Cobb, Harmon Killebrew, Willie Mays, Phil Niekro and Warren Spahn. All but Cavarretta are in the Hall of Fame. Smoltz will be there someday.