[espn] Cano and Yanks trying anything to woo Rocket

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2746737

ROUND ROCK, Texas -- Seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens isn't prepared to say whether he'll be back for another season.

"I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I'll make that decision when it comes," Clemens said in a story for Monday's editions of The Daily Texan. "I'm in good shape, but I'm nowhere near baseball shape. Mentally, it's going to be another challenge for me."

Clemens, a free agent who had a 7-6 record in a shortened season with the Houston Astros last year, said teammates got him to come back last year.

"If somebody makes a phone call, and I think I can do it again physically, I probably could," Clemens said. "The only reason why I'd continued to play was because of my teammates calling me."

He said he is enjoying working with younger players.

"We've got in Houston our elite camp on Monday and Tuesday, so that'll be fun," he said Saturday after throwing the ceremonial first pitch for the Texas Longhorns' alumni game.

Clemens is choosing among returning to the Astros, retiring or rejoining the Yankees or Boston Red Sox, his first major league team.

Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, said earlier this month that if the Rocket pitches, he probably wouldn't start his season until May or June.

 

I wouldnt blame Clemens if he he wanted to leave.

How many wins would he have with the Yankees run support? How many games did the Astros fail to score more than one run for him, if they scored at all?

I hope he stays, but if I was a pitcher and went out every game knowing that even if I was perfect I still might not win it would get pretty annoying.

 

You also have to wonder how many chances he'd get to face notoriously bad offensive teams such as the Pirates, Nationals, Marlins, Brewers, Cubs, etc., etc., etc. (in addition to the inherent advantage of facing the pitcher's spot 3-4 times a game).

Roger won't be any better for the Yanks than he was 3 years ago (and there's a good chance he'll be worse). His "improvement" the last 3 years have a lot more to due with being in the National League, rather than him finding some magical fountain of youth that added more "stuff" to his arsenal.

 

Couldn't they just re-run the same stories they did last year when Clements "wasn't prepared" to say what he was doing? Sure would save a lot of time.

 

That's a good point. I wonder if he realizes that? Which teams are horrible on offense in the AL?