Pettite on Clemens: "I don't think he's planning on coming back"

ouch. Where would be without the Rocket this year?

That also leaves us hurting pretty bad on the pitching front. In addition to needing to basically wipe the bullpen clean (save Lidge), that would leave our rotation with: Roy and Pettitte. Wade is arbitration eligible iirc. We have some prospects, with possibly Hernandez and Taylor Buchholz ready to step in, but I'd feel a lot better if we were bringing back a solid triumvirate. Especially knowing Kent is likely gone, Biggio may be gone, and who knows about Bagwell.

Next year may be looking like a "rebuilding" year...

 

From Jayson Stark of ESPN.com

More and more, it appears the Astros will use this winter to do a major renovation of their roster. But even though their goal is to get younger, that doesn't necessarily mean the return of Roger Clemens is out of the question.

One baseball man who knows Clemens says: "The early line is that he wants to come back. He wants to see what that team could do if they can get (Andy) Pettitte healthy and get (Wade) Miller healthy. He actually wouldn't mind leading those kids. So it will be interesting to see what happens."

 

Who'd thunk Clemens and Lima time would have almost identical records at this point in the season?