Yanks Could Ditch Clemens

You have probably read by now that Roger Clemens's massive 2007 salary is not guaranteed, and the Yankees still have the option of walking away.  Brian Cashman says he's not thinking about it right now, but surely the idea has crossed his mind.

The Rocket hopes to overcome his "fatigued groin" and make his season debut on Saturday against the Bucs.  That injury offers all kinds of dirty jokes but I'll resist for now.  Back to the situation at hand - should the Yanks be backing out of this while they still can? 

The value of a player certainly hinges on his ability to push a team into a playoff berth.  The $4.6MM a month for Clemens can almost be justified if it's getting the Yanks over the hump.  At fourth place and 12.5 games behind the Yankees, a division title is out.  They're seven games out of the wild card, but need to leapfrog seven teams.  Baseball Prospectus and PECOTA think the Yankees still have a 22% chance of making the playoffs. 

Pitching, particularly starting pitching, remains a clear need.  If Clemens gives them a 3.80 ERA and Mussina rights the ship, they'll have four solid starters.  Phil Hughes can give a boost in August.  On the offensive side, Cano, Damon, and Abreu have all been underachieving.  If a few of those guys can pick it up, the offense could rival the Red Sox for the balance of the season. 

There is definitely enough promise with this club to stick with the Clemens plan.

Comments

[Papelboner]

I wish the Yanks would cancel this deal, then watch Roger have to beg the Sox for a roster spot. I'd love to see the Sox turn their backs to him after he did so to them.

[bravesbeast]

I just do not get it. Besides Beckett, The rest of the Boston starters, even though they have good numbers, are not as consistient as one might like. I am pretty sure any logical red sox fan would be thrilled to add Roger to the staff, for the right price, which I would put at under 15 million. I mean it would make your staff even stronger at a price you could afford. It would allow for Jon Lester, even though one may not agree, It would allow for him to have a few year in the minors to further develop. And heck, what a blow it would be to the Yankees to get the player they coveted so much. It is probably true the Redsox do not need Clemens, but at an affordable price, im sure you would approve to go along with something that would make your team even stronger. But nevertheless, it does not matter, as he is not going to get released from his contract.

[Sunny Reiser]

Clemens? Surprised, actually, that there has not been more talk of Helton coming to the Yankees, with both Giambi and Lou Gehrig going on the DL in the past week.

He won't come cheap, but he'd be a better alternative than Phelps full-time and/or Damon at first.

[bobo]

Hughes being hurt is really going to kill the team. I still think they have a pretty good shot at the wild card. This has got to be one of the unluckiest seasons for a number of reasons:

1, the injuries - if the starters had no injuries, or just a reasonable number, you can bet they'd be at worst a few games better than they are now.

2, the underporfance that you mention of Abreu, Damon, Cano, Giambi, and Mientkiewicz. Cano in particular is absolutely killing the ball right now. I know Giambi and Mientkiewicz are moot points as they don't have the chance to get hot now. But still having these hitters hitting so poorly is something nobody could have expected, and they are more likely than not to turn it around.

3 - simple bad luck given how they've played. They have an awful record in 1-run games, and despite outscoring their opponents are still 6 games below .500. These to are things that tend to even out over a long season.

[Dev0]

Ok so what did Clemens ever do to the red sox? People seem to have short memories considering it was the red sox that turned their back on him in the first place. All Roger did in this case was do what every other baseball player in his situation would do, and thats goto the highest Bidder.

Also if this deal was droped Clemens would have more then just the red sox to fall back on I can assure you.

[Papelboner]

Ok, let me clear up my previous statement:

Could the Sox use him? Absolutely, what team couldn't?

Would the Sox be interested if the Yanks voided the contract? Absolutely, they'd be stupid not to kick the tires.

Would I be excited? No, because he has continually chosen the Astros/Yankees over the Sox. Also, the Sox had no choice but to let Clemens walk the first time, he was an out of shape, unmotivated pitcher who used the Sox calling him past his prime to motivate himself into getting in shape. If he were in that kind of shape, the Sox would've NEVER let him leave for Toronto.

Also, Clemens flat out said he was going to chose the team with the best chance to win, THIS YEAR. Looking at the standings, everyone can see that the Sox have the best chance out of the three he was considering. Then he goes and chooses NY because of why??? THE $$$$ that's why. I don't blame him for taking the $, just don't say you're going to chose the team with the best chances of winning and then turn a blind eye when they ONLY offer $18 mill.

Also, the Sox wanted Roger to take his time and come back at the same time frame like last year, so he wouldn't get hurt and would be fresh down the stretch. Looks like they might know what they're talking about, with his "tired groin" and all.

[ptk420biatch]

BoBo, I dont see the yankees winning the wild card. I still think it will be cleveland or detroit winning the wild card and AL central.

[Dev0]

I gotta say Clemens in Toronto was some of the best pitching I've ever seen.

[bobo]

If all Clemens was concerned with was the money, couldn't he have made his start against the White Sox and _then_ realize his groin was giving him problems?

Also, I don't think the Yankees are the most likely team to win the WC by any means - but like Roto said, definitely enough of a chance to go for it.

[moebarguy]

Red Sox fans are stupid when it comes to Roger Clemens. They think that he wanted out of Boston when in fact Dan Duqette, bless his heart, traded him because he felt that Roger was "over-the-hill." Pity ain't it?

[ArodSucksAtLife]

"Red Sox fans are stupid when it comes to Roger Clemens. They think that he wanted out of Boston when in fact Dan Duqette, bless his heart, traded him because he felt that Roger was "over-the-hill." Pity ain't it?"

Yeah we are all retarded, glad you caught that.

DeSalvo lasts 1 and 1/3 tonight, pretty sure Cashman isn't walking away from Roger no matter how ridiculous a contract it is.

[Papelboner]

"Red Sox fans are stupid when it comes to Roger Clemens. They think that he wanted out of Boston when in fact Dan Duqette, bless his heart, traded him because he felt that Roger was "over-the-hill." Pity ain't it?"

Yeah, we're stupid, but at least we know he wasn't traded to Toronto, he signed there as a free agent (and if I remember correctly, he said he would like to pitch closer to his home in Texas, and signed with TORONTO- yet another example of Clemens' b.s.). But Duquette never traded him, he just wouldn't sign him to a huge contract because he got lazy and out of shape (leading to a number of hamstring/groin injuries that still bother him today).

But yeah, we're the stupid ones.