Astros' demands halt Clemens trade to Boston The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros allowed a trade to break down that would have sent Roger Clemens back to the city where he spent the first 13 seasons of his major-league career, according to the Providence Journal. The Journal cited a Boston TV report that said the two sides spent Thursday talking about a potential deal only to see it fall through due to the Astros' demand for minor-league prospects. The New York Daily News also reported Thursday the Astros had placed Clemens on waivers earlier this month, and the Red Sox claimed him. Houston consequently pulled Clemens off waivers. And it was thought the Red Sox made the claim in an attempt to block a potential trade to the Yankees. Teams are essentially offered players on waivers in inverse order of the standings. So Boston was offered Clemens before the Yankees got their shot. Players can only be pulled back from waivers once. The claiming team gets the player on the second try. But now, it is thought the Red Sox would actually like to have Clemens pitch at Fenway Park again, an idea that was essentially crushed when the team balked at Houston's high trade demands. Clemens became one of the top pitchers in Red Sox history when he pitched for the team from 1984-1996. But was the deal ever really close to happening? The Boston Globe doesn't seem to think so, saying the Sox lost "any possible shot" at Clemens when the Astros pulled him off the waiver wire. The Globe also points out that teams lower than the Red Sox in the standings would also have put in a claim for Clemens, who would be a steal with one more season left on his current contract at $5 million. If a weaker, pitching-hungry team claimed The Rocket, the Sox would not have been able to even discuss a trade with Houston. <<end of article>> This was reported in today's Chronicle as well, with The Hun denying it. This story has at least one error on it as I see it, when it say Clemens has one year left on his contract...according to my calculation, he has 42 games left on his current deal barring a late surge into the postseason. I doubt Uncle Drayton would ever consider trading The Rocket especially since he has a personal services contract with him which begins after this season.
Boston.com: Clemens Deal is Waived Off Clemens Deal Waived Off Things that make you say HMMMMMMMMM. I wonder why the Astros put him out there? CHICAGO -- The Red Sox were ready to welcome Roger Clemens back to Boston. His uniform number (21) was available. Pedro Martinez, who has expressed the utmost respect for Clemens, almost certainly would have made some room for the Rocket near the locker Clemens long used and Martinez now occupies. Curt Schilling would have been thrilled to pitch with his onetime mentor. Tim Wakefield would have been tickled to work again with his friend and former teammate. And the Sox would readily acknowledge they could do far worse than finding a slot for the future Hall of Famer in their rotation. To that end, the Sox recently entered a claim on Clemens when the Houston Astros tried to pass him through waivers. The prospect was tantalizing, Clemens returning to the scene of some of his greatest glories and taking another shot at leading the Sox to a championship. And the Rocket no longer would need to work with former general manager Dan Duquette, who angered Clemens in his final season with the Sox by suggesting he was in "the twilight of his career." Trouble was, the Sox lost any possible shot at Clemens when the Astros pulled him off the waiver wire. It's also very likely that teams lower than the Red Sox in the standings would also have put in a claim for the ace, with so much need for pitching out there and Clemens being a bargain with just the remaining portion of a one-year, $5 million deal. If that were the case, the Sox would not have been able to even discuss a trade with Houston. Teams generally place many players on waivers after the July 31 deadline for non-waiver trades, in part to gauge the market. And once a team pulls a player back from waivers, it must wait at least 30 days before placing him on waivers again. That means Clemens is highly unlikely to land anywhere else this season. As for the Sox, given the opportunity, they gladly would have tried to work out a reasonable deal for Clemens, who has been disappointed after coming out of retirement by the Astros' subpar season. But Boston's waiver claim was aimed as much at blocking a potential bid by the Yankees to acquire Clemens as it was to express their own interest in the Rocket. The last thing the Sox wanted to do as the postseason approaches was allow the Yankees to shore up their struggling rotation with a big-game pitcher of the Rocket's caliber.
According to Hunsicker, the Astros put every player on the roster on waivers in order to facilitate any deals after 07/31. Beltran was apparently claimed by the Phillies. Kent went unclaimed.
Only this would change my mindset that Roger is one of the biggest asses in all of sports. C'mon Roger, you want to help out your hometown team this is how, allow us to bring in some young talent in exchange for your services for the remainder of the season.
Some information pertaining to waiver deals: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=1860265
If I were Roger, I would not welcome a trade. He helped out a hometown team. The only way you trade him is if he WANTS to be traded. DD
This type of deal happens all the time. ALL of the Astros are placed on waivers every year at this time (most teams do this). If a player is claimed, the first team asks for a ridiculous trade to see how bad the second team wants the player in question. If Boston really wanted Clemens, and was willing to give up way too much for him, Houston would be stupid to not do it.
And it makes you wonder- what were the Sox offering? A chance for a Pedro-Schilling-Clemens front 3; I wonder how far away they were? My guess is it never got too close. There have been some rumors that Kent got through the wire.
That article is complete baloney. For the Astros to be able to trade Clemens to Boston, he would have to clear waivers past every single team in the league that has a worse record than the Red Sox. That simply would not happen. Just because the Sox put a claim on Clemens doesn't mean they have exclusive rights to him.
It's not uncommon for teams to place players (even their best) on waivers. Doing such is like fishing, by placing a player on waivers doesn't mean they are going to trade him, initially, but it's a way to see what teams have interest in a certain player(s) for a trade that could take place at a later date. In the case with Clemens, due to his contract, there is no room for Roger to be traded at a later date, so the Astros were more than likely looking to get a feel as to who wanted him, thus the 'Stros could scour their farms. My guess would be that the story is true, and the Astros were probably asking too much, possibly multiple players including shortstop Hanley Ramirez.
Yes, similar to that, but the deal for Johnson was a non-waiver trade that happened much earlier in the season. As a result, the amount games left in the '99 season combined with competing offers required more prospects to be included. If Roger happens to be dealt, it will first have to be to a team of his approval or it will not happen, and secondly, the Astros are not going to get the amount of high caliber prospects that went in a deal such as the Johnson deal of '99, due to the games remaining. The Astros are about a week away from Roger being able to be placed back on waivers and it would not suprise me if he were to be traded. To the playoff team that would claim him, pending on how quickly a deal gets brokered, the claiming team would have Clemens for roughly six more regular season starts before heading into the postseason; which, in my opinion, is ample time to get acclimated and perfect time to get on a role (as a team). The waiver wire this time of year, for good players, gets tricky as other teams will make claims in order to block competing teams from making the aquisition. We'll have to see how this pans out, but like I said, in my humble opinion, it will not suprise me if Roger clears waivers and gets to one of the possible two, three, maybe four teams in which he gives the "OK" to play for.
Nah, Clemens' contract is way, way too friendly for him to clear waivers. If he was making Hidalgo type money, he would clear waivers, but not with his (relatively) small contract.
