my business partner has gotten to know the clemens family fairly well. judging by the things i've heard second-hand, i'd be shocked if he did that.
He's done this the last few off-seasons....it's best that no one get wound up about it. Barkley did the same thing during the last few years of his career. The Astros should look to sign/trade for a bat no matter what, and either look at it as an expensive final push for a title with Clemens or as a first step to offset his departure. Evan
I agree. Strong arguments can be made for and against Roger coming back, against being financial ones, but I can't see him playing anywhere else. It's here or done, in my opinion. I hope he comes back, but for less money.
That's exactly what I'm thinking. Right now, he's thinking to himself that he's retiring. We bring in another bat or two, I bet he comes back.
I hope he comes back, but for more money. He is so worth it. The Astros have made two unbelievable playoff runs the last two years. Without Clemens, I just don't see them making either run.
He should take the first 2 months of the season off and come back in June so he'll be stronger at the end of the season.
It's not like Drayton is strapped for cash, or that Roger doesn't pull his weight financially. The 'Stros should go out and sign who they need to sign. If Roger wants to come back, pay him to come back.
It would seem obvious that the Astros made more money this year than in years upon years--probably more than ever in the franchise (but that's a guess). That said, how many of you have seen the Astros' books? Are they "rolling in dough", or barely breaking even? Because if the report is to be believed, they were losing as much $2 million per in the late '90s and even a few years back. As far as how much money Drayton McLane personally has, that's a red herring.
The problem with Clemens waiting is that if we need to get a good starting pitcher, it'll take money, money that we won't have if Roger is here...Catch 22 as they say... Not only that, we need another bat and that'll cost us money and we can't do anything if we don't know as that delays any type of trades we could do to get a bat...
Roger Clemens pays for himself when he makes $5MM a year, not $18MM. 10,000 extra fans for his ~15 home starts at $25 / ticket = $3MM. And as his novelty wears down, 10,000 extra fans is probably a huge overestimate.
Plus concessions and merchandise. If you sign him for $18MM and you end up paying him 10-11MM, that's pretty good for the league ERA leader.
Do you think he will come back if we sign Sammy Sosa? I think Sammy and the short porch to left field could be a perfect match. I wonder if he could stay healthy, though? Based on his last season, he was injured for most of it and didn't hit so well. If he came back rejuvenated and healthy, then it may pay off. Just an idea. We need someone of that caliber who can perform to get us and Roger back to the WS.
Fans of Baltimore said this exact same thing before last season. Camden Yards is a bonafied Hitter's park... possibly more so than Minute Maid because you can hit well to all parts of the park, not just LF. Also, Sosa (in his prime) was not a dead-pull hitter. In fact, in his 60+ HR seasons, he had more HR's to C and RCF than he did to dead left... which is amazing for a right handed hitter.
I believe merchandise gets split amongst the entire league, so there's nothing there. Concessions, certainly. But I think if you put a winning product on the field, you'll fit seats for the most part. Clemens is no longer the novelty he was 2 years ago for Houston fans. Besides which, we can win without him. We went 15-17 in his 32 starts last year. No fault of his own, certainly, but the reality is that we won despite our results in his games, not because of them. Go get a $9MM AJ Burnett and a $9MM bat for that $18MM and we'd be better, I think.
I don't think Clemens will sign if the team is not improved. How many times last year did the offense lave him high and dry by not driving in a single run or maybe mustering only a run when he held the other team to one or two runs? Just improve the team as if you are not expecting Clemens back. Go get a bat and an arm, make the team attractive to Clemens so he'll want to come back and if his answer is no, then at least you didn't put all your eggs in one basket like last year.
if drayton spends money to make the team better this off season, i would not put it past roger to sign a minimum contract (if he likes the moves made)
