Some things money can't buy. And some people have all the money they could ever possibly spend. Roger Clemens fits into this category. He has made more money and achieved far more in his career than he ever thought possible. What good is another $18 million gonna do him? Not much. In fact it could have a net negative affect on his image. He could sign somewhere for some record $20-$30 million for one season, but what would his stature and memory in the history of MLB become? He'd be known as an outstanding pitcher, one of the best of his generation, who was ultimately selfish and cared more about his own pocket than the team's accomplishments. But wait. There's another possible scenario unfolding. Roger sees his hometown team struggling to be competitive. He's already given 2 years of his post retirement life, pitching his butt off for the homeboys, whenever he had already decided to retire. Now, Roger sees that without major improvements in the team, they aren't going to be able to achieve true greatness only measured by holding a World Series trophy. So, instead of forcing them to pony up for some $25 mill or so, and just take the money and run, Roger decides to put the Stros in a position to build the team out, by declining to discuss contract. Now the onus is on the owner and GM. Do they really want a championship team in this city? Do they really want to remain competitive? Or were they just using Roger as the gate attraction to sell an extra 10,000 tickets, and rake in money? So, the owner shows his committment and builds out the team to be extremely competitive in the upcoming season..........or the owner decides to limit payroll and grow with the "kids". It's his choice. Roger is a 43 year old man. He ain't 28 anymore. His body is limited. He knows those limitations better than any of us. And even more than that, he knows the legacy that he wants to leave the game. Think about the opportunity that Roger would have to become a true legend of the game. His hometown team makes the necessary moves to become competitive. And he is sitting here watching it happen. Now, he really does have the opportunity to come back and put the team over the top. He's got them to smell the aroma of success, to get their saliva glands twitching to hold that WS trophy by giving them 2 years of outstanding performance and through sheer will power pushing this group of underachievers to higher heights. Now, he's got the opportunity to push them over the top, because the owner did the right thing and built the team out. So, he comes back in May, signs a smaller, conservative, average contract, and the Astros hold the trophy in October. Could you write a better ending to a career? What would it cost Roger? Nothing. He would go down as an icon of the game, as a guy who cared about winning more than the money, and who proved it by pushing his team to a championship at age 44 with a meager contract. Would it cost him money? In the short term, it would cost him several million. In the long term, he would be money ahead, because his reputation would be on a whole different level than it is at now. Dear Drayton: Do the right thing. Build the team. If you build it, Roger will come. Dear Roger: We're counting on you to do the right thing.
Boy, the talking heads on the radio up here in Dallas are going gaga over this. IMHO, the Astros did the right thing. They had, I believe, approx 46% of their payroll tied up in Clemens & Bagwell last year and only one of them made any contribution. At this point in time they have to be about the business of getting productive players in here that can help them win. Even Roger himself is unsure whether his body has enough in it for one more season and I think that he was a bit unnerved at how his body broke down last year. Had they waited until January for him to make a decision, everyone would have been roasting them on a spit for pulling another stupid "Beltran" move. At some point you simply have to move on. Besides, his replacement may very well be here in the organization. The Astros still have the same type decision to make about Bagwell because he's owed almost $24 million and there's no way he's worth that amount of money at this stage of his career. He's done more for this franchise than Roger ever did but at this point he does nothing but create problems for the Astros.
There is nothing the Astros can do about Bagwell. He will get all of the money due him either from the Astros or the company that insures his contract. In order to use the insurance it has to be proven that Bagwell is physically unable to completely perform his job (e.g. hit and field) AND he cannot play in even one inning of one regular season game.
I hope that the Bagwell situation doesn't drag on and on. If he comes back then Berkman is forced to play LF where he's OK but not great. Also if he comes back, there is the big question about what he'll bring to the table offensively. To me, the Astros would be in a better position if Berkman stayed at 1B and they went out and got a LF with pop in his bat. If Bagwell does try to come back and is ineffective or gets hurt again, then things will start to get real ugly real fast in Astroland.
WITH CLEMENTS = Nation League Championship Series and WORLD SERIES without Clements = 1st round exit. . .THANK YOU FOR COMING SCOREBOARD - Jim Rome Rocket River
I don't see this happening, but it is interesting that the Red Sox have contacted Ausmus. And the bit about Brad and the Stros still being apart on negotiations. http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2005/12/11/red_sox_discussing_clemens/ Lucchino makes call to Hendricks brothers By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff | December 11, 2005 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."
