Clemens to finish career in Boston??

[Providence A's]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/sp...pagewanted=all

ROGER CLEMENS may yet decide to retire and mean it this time, but in mulling his decision in the next weeks or months, he may want to consider an option that most likely hasn't crossed his mind.

Discuss the Postseason The Houston Astros, for whom he pitched exceptionally well the past two seasons after he said he was retiring, cut Clemens loose by not offering him salary arbitration before the deadline at midnight Wednesday. He could still return to the Astros, but he would have to wait until May 1.

The moment the Astros announced their decision, perhaps the first thought that went through the minds of provincial New York was: Yankees - Clemens could return to the Yankees, with whom he pitched in four World Series and won two.

The only reason he left the Yankees, after the 2003 season, was because he had decided to retire. The only reason he didn't retire was because Andy Pettitte signed with the Astros as a free agent and persuaded Clemens to join him.

This whole retire-or-not-retire business could have been avoided if the Yankees had not let Pettitte get away. A Yankee his entire career, Pettitte wanted to continue and finish his career in New York, but the Yankees didn't reciprocate the feeling.

They like to point out that they offered Pettitte a good contract, but the offer came after the 2003 season, not early in the year, when it could have made a difference. By the time the Yankees made the offer, Pettitte had decided it would be nice to go home and pitch for the Astros. Clemens, unretiring, followed.

Had the Yankees kept Pettitte in New York, Clemens would have presumably remained retired and would not now be deciding whether to retire or keep playing.

Deciding to retire again would make Clemens's life simple. If he retires, he doesn't have to choose a team to play for. One of the major advantages of playing for the Astros was the convenience of being home. As part of his deal with the Astros, he was able to be away from the team between starts to watch his sons play baseball.

The Astros provided that unusual perk because they were eager to have Clemens play for them. Another team may grant him the same privilege for next season, but the logistics wouldn't be as simple, even if he opted to play for the other team in Texas.

Let's consider that possibility. The Rangers are desperate for pitching and would not mind adding a seven-time winner of the Cy Young award, even if, at 43 years old, Clemens is only six years younger than the Rangers' manager, Buck Showalter.

Clemens, however, would presumably want to play for a team that had a chance to play in the World Series. The Rangers would need more than Clemens to qualify as such a team.

All right, what about the Yankees? Their starting rotation collapsed under the weight of injuries last season, and the team could have used Clemens, even if he struggled with injuries of his own in the last month of the season.

If Clemens had pitched for the Yankees the way he pitched for the Astros, he would have received more support. In five starts with the Astros in which he allowed no runs in seven innings, he emerged without a victory because his team scored no runs, either.

Clemens loved his time with the Yankees, especially winning two World Series. But renewing his relationship with them now? Been there, done that.

All right, he wanted a ring and got it with the Yankees. The Astros had never played in the World Series, and he helped them accomplish that goal. The team he played for the longest in his 22-year career, the Boston Red Sox, won the World Series after an 86-year drought. But they won it without him.

If he decides to continue playing, Clemens could return to Boston, where he played his first 13 years, and try to win the World Series in the uniform he once loved.

Clemens can go home again because the bad guys are no longer there. Different ownership, different front office. Dan Duquette, the general manager who pushed Clemens out of Boston, saying he was in the twilight of his career, is gone. The Red Sox don't even have a general manager.

But Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling are there. Beckett is the 25-year-old Clemens wannabe who, like Clemens, is a Texan. He has always idolized Clemens, and would even like to wear No. 21, his old Boston uniform number.

Schilling is the veteran pitcher who credits Clemens with inspiring his career. During an off-season in his brief time with the Astros, a young Schilling encountered Clemens at a gym in Houston. After watching Schilling go through what passed for a workout, Clemens approached him and chewed him out.

"He said I was wasting my career and I was cheating the game," Schilling has said in telling the story of that consequential meeting. "He was right."

Clemens, Schilling and Beckett together. They would be a fitting threesome, the Three Musketeers of Fenway Park.

Nice idea, but I think it may just be wishful thinking...

[Fishercat]

I can't imagine him coming back to Boston. They could use an upgrade in the rotation, but I doubt he would. Rangers maybe, Yankees maybe, not Boston.

[Providence A's]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...ssing_clemens/

The Red Sox have communicated with Roger Clemens's agents, the Hendricks brothers, over the past few days to express their interest in the future Hall of Famer if he elects to play in 2006.

Clemens, who was not offered salary arbitration by the Houston Astros, was informed of the contact, and sources close to Clemens said the pitcher reacted positively to the scenario of a return to Boston.

''We had an internal discussion," said Sox CEO and president Larry Lucchino, ''and concluded we should make an initial call to let the Hendricks brothers know we were open to discuss Roger's return if he should have interest in the Red Sox in 2006.

''Nothing further."

The theory among those close to Clemens is that if he still wants to pitch, he would return to Houston May 1, the earliest date he can re-sign with the Astros. That way, he can monitor spring training, and the first month of his son Koby's progress; Koby Clemens is a catcher in the Astros organization.

But he has surprised people with his decisions before.

In an interview with the pitcher during the playoffs, Clemens spoke fondly about Boston and the many friends he still has in the area.

''Here I am, still pitching," Clemens said in October. ''Debbie and I were looking forward to the day where we could just go up to my old neighborhood [Framingham] and just hang out with some of our friends up there. Maybe go to a few games at Fenway. Same in New York. Just grab five or six of your close friends up there and go out to eat and see a ballgame.

''But here I am, still pitching."

Clemens is 341-172 lifetime with a 3.12 ERA in 672 games and 4,502 strikeouts. Last season, he went 13-8 with a league-low 1.87 ERA and likely would have won his eighth Cy Young Award had Astros hitters supported him better.

He is 100-55 with a 3.19 ERA in 199 starts at Fenway and 53-22 with a 3.55 ERA in 101 starts at Yankee Stadium.

At 42, Clemens still pitched 211 innings and made 32 starts, striking out 185 and walking 62. He was bothered by back and hamstring problems late in the season and into postseason.

The Astros feared Clemens's salary ($18 million last season) would likely increase in arbitration and the team would not be able to offer more than $15 million.

Another Sox link for Clemens would be Boston's offseason addition of his former teammate, Al Nipper, as bullpen coach. Clemens and Nipper remain close friends.

Sox pitchers Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett have idolized Clemens, and Tim Wakefield is a holdover from Clemens's tenure with the team, which ended after the 1996 season.

The Sox also have had contact with Clemens's Houston batterymate, Brad Ausmus, about coming aboard as a backup to replace Doug Mirabelli.

Ausmus, who is from Connecticut and has a home on Cape Cod, is still negotiating with the Astros and would prefer to remain in Houston as a starter, but so far the numbers haven't worked to his satisfaction.

Clemens probably won't decide his future for some time. He should be in shape after playing for Team USA at the World Cup in March, which may influence his decision. He had a unique schedule with the Astros, who allowed him to spend a lot of his non-pitching days at home.

The Red Sox allowed Tom Seaver a similar schedule in 1986. Any team that signed Clemens would have to make those concessions.

While Clemens returning here is a long shot, what the Red Sox have done is to make sure they're not left out of what could be a public relations coup.

The Red Sox and Orioles spoke again yesterday about a possible Manny Ramírez-for-Miguel Tejada swap, though nothing appeared imminent. Orioles owner Peter Angelos, quoted in yesterday's Washington Post, didn't completely discount the possibility of moving Tejada to another AL East team, saying, ''It all depends on what you get back in return." However, Angelos sounded turned off by the three years and $57 million remaining on Ramírez's contract. ''I'd find it difficult to justify a $20 million salary per year for anybody," Angelos told the paper. ''The economics of the game don't support that type of salary for any player."

Well, they're "talking"

[Saber]

He hates Boston and has all the leverage. I can't see it.

[bosox00]

since when does clemens hate boston ?

[Bosox21]

Sources close to Clemens told the Boston Globe he reacted positively to the scenario of a return to Boston.

http://fantasybaseball.rotoworld.com...uenum=&id=3340

[Saber]

What else would he say?

At this point, the Red Sox are more in need of durability and future potential in their rotation instead of a guy who will give one year and 175 innings, even if they are great innings.

20 million dollars is a lot of money too.

[Bosox21]

Why would he lie to a freind or whoever the source is?

He didnt hate Boston so much as the former front office.

[Fishercat]

Yeah, his hatred of the Red Sox had mostly to do with Duquette and the people in the front office rather than the team itself.

As for my opinion, he's a grade A jackass, great pitcher, I wouldn't mind if he came back but won't be heartbroken if he doesn't.

[Saber]

On the white guy spectrum, he's still better than AJ Pierzynski and Jeff Kent.

[Providence A's]

This syas they're not "actively" pursuing him...there seems to be a lot of conflicting articles and speculation out there.

http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSo...ticleid=116648

Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino made it clear last night that the team is not involved in negotiations to lure Roger Clemens back to Boston.

But Lucchino said the team did contact Clemens’ agents, the Hendricks brothers, just to let them know that there was interest, if the right scenario developed.

“We simply planted the seed. No reaction was solicited,” Lucchino wrote in an e-mail.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner, who left the Sox via free agency in 1996, wasn’t offered arbitration by the Houston Astros last week and is free to sign with any other team. Clemens, 43, plans to play in the World Baseball Classic in March before deciding if he wants to continue playing.