chievous -- based on my conversations with a friend who knows the clemens family pretty well, you're exactly right. she was excited when the astros didn't make the playoffs because she thought that meant it would be less likely roger would want to pitch here next year...that he would be more likely to just retire completely. clemens, himself, won't accept a deal where he only pitches at home. you either commit to a team, or you don't. that would jack with the rotation, as well.
Looks like we'll be speculating for another month or two. I heard on the radio that he won't make a decision until February.
I think it would be more likely that Clemens would be offered the opportunity to not make short road trips where he is not scheduled to pitch and come home early from trips after he has pitched, but it would surprise me if Clemens took advantage of that on a regular basis.
Rog said on 610 that's not an option, if he comes back, it'll be at 100% mentally & physically, not some half-assed alternative.
Just heard on ESPNEWS that the Rangers "rolled out the red carpet" for Roger. I just caught the tail end of it, but heard something about a situation similar to Nolan Ryan's. Sounds like a longshot though. I think it's either Houston or retirement.
Yup. Here's the article from ESPN: The Astros are not the only team interested in luring Roger Clemens out of retirement. Rangers owner Tom Hicks met privately with Clemens at The Ballpark in Arlington on Wednesday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Hicks reportedly told Clemens that if the Rocket has second thoughts about retirement, the Rangers would be interested. "Roger is retired, and I believe he's going to stay retired," Hicks told the newspaper. "But I told him if he reconsiders, we would be extremely interested and have had success in the past with a player who was in a similar situation." After Andy Pettitte left the Yankees for the Astros, it was rumored that his good friend Clemens might resume his career in Houston. However, the Rangers may have an advantage since they are in the American League and are still close to Clemens' home -- the Houston suburb of Katy. Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell played golf with Clemens on Tuesday, but Bagwell said he did not put pressure on the future Hall of Famer to unretire and join the Astros. "We had lunch, and he just expressed how he was feeling," Bagwell told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday. "It has to be a tough thing, because he has a family that he wants to spend time with. I think it's intrigued him, but he has some key issues." The Astros' and Rangers' efforts are moot if Clemens decides to stay retired. And that's exactly what Yankees manager Joe Torre believes he will do. Clemens said all year he intended to retire after the 2003 season, his 20th in the major leagues. Torre said it was only natural that the Rocket would have second thoughts. "It seems like a natural thing. Sort of reminds you of Warren Spahn, pitch every Sunday," Torre said Wednesday. Clemens, 41, went 17-9 with a 3.91 ERA last season for the Yankees. The six-time Cy Young Award winner has 310 wins, 17th on the career list, and needs 38 strikeouts to move into second place ahead of Steve Carlton, who has 4,136. "I'm doubtful that he'll be back," Torre said. "I think he was ready to do it." Even though Clemens lives in the Houston area, he'd still have to make road trips at times if he resumed his career with a Texas team. "Even though it's not New York, he's still going to be away a lot," Torre said. "But again, that's his decision. He certainly could come back and pitch, and pitch effectively. I don't think there's any doubt in anybody's mind after winning that many games last year. But I don't think he's going to do that." link
I laughed at that when i read it on espn.com There are a couple minor differences between playing in Arlington and Houston. A. Houston has a winning ballclub with lots of potential B. Roger's best friend Andy Pettitte is playing with the Astros C. Roger's hometown is Houston not Arlington, i believe he lives only 10 minutes away from the stadium. D. Other than Michael Jordan, who wants to come out of retirement to play on a losing team that can't even make the playoffs. Good luck Rangers, i'm sure Roger will lose alot of sleep over this one.
This is going to sound stupid, but what if Clemens only pitched at home. Has anybody ever done that? And what do you think a team would think about that? There have been crazier things that happened.
Roger Clemens won't do that and i don't want a guy who only does that. Either you pitch every 5th day regardless of the game being at home or on the road. Otherwise, don't come out of retirement. There is no way Clemens would go for that. I don't think he's that kind of guy. Either he'll be in all the way or he won't be at all.
Is it the one where you can see the batting cage in the back yard when you drive past it? My friend pointed it out to me one time, I'm just wondering if that was really it.
yep i lived one block away from him for years until i moved to cali hes actually a really nice guy especially to kids....ive been told that on halloween he gives out autographed baseballs and pictures instead of candy...pretty cool stuff
My wife and I ran into Drayton last night at the Aquarium; we were actually on the shark train with him. My wife congratulated him for bringing Pettitte back to Texas. He thanked her and said he was working on Roger Clemens next. This by no means is a newsbreaker, but at least he's focused on it as much as we are. Nice guy.
Tom Hicks has the largest Gonads in sports of the 21st century. His discussion with Rocket about joining the Rangers is unbelievable. What an ass!. I can now see that this guy thinks big and has the arrogance to rival Steinbrenner. I can also see why his sports empire is in dire straits financially. All that was accomplished by the disclosure of his meeting with Clemens was upping the market on the guy and maybe attempting to get a few extra tickets sold on the coat tails of the situation. If the Hendricks had not come out to state that Rocket would only play for the Astros then the one time, hometown discount for his services would have been gone and Hicks would have started a bidding war. Didn't this bonehead learn his lesson with ARod. He left $100 million on the table there and likely would pay an extra $3-5 Million per year IF HE COULD get Clemens. Bold move. Lousy negotiator.
On the other hand, if Clemens and the Hendricks are really about a bigger paycheck from the Astros then this is textbook negotiating and Hicks got used like a Trojan.
