Astros Will Not Rule Out Signing Clemens

Drayton McLane, the chairman and chief executive of the Astros, spoke with Roger Clemens recently and said that Clemens has not ruled out a possible return to playing baseball. "We have a personal services contract with him and it's not activated until he tells us he's ready to retire," said McLane, just after this week's quarterly owners' meetings drew to a conclusion. "Well, he hasn't said that. I think if he was ready to retire, and that was clear, he would have already said that to us. But that has not happened." McLane noted that the Astros would not rule...

Odds And Ends: Clemens, Soria, Randolph, Mulder

A couple of notes for this Thursday afternoon. Bob Watson, GM of the U.S. Olympic baseball team, says Roger Clemens is not welcome. "We don't need that type of distraction," said Watson. Should the Royals give Joakim Soria a shot as a starter? I'm always inclined to say yes. If he fails in the rotation, just bump him back to the bullpen. Same logic goes for Joba Chamberlain. In a minor trade, the Astros have sent 34-year-old lefty Stephen Randolph to the Phillies for a player to be named later. Randolph was 0-1 with a 1.23 ERA in AAA this...

Astros Talked To Clemens Last December

It's been refreshing to ignore Roger Clemens on this site. But Ken Davidoff does have a piece of information today that fits within our realm. Davidoff talked to Astros owner Drayton McLane and learned that the Astros had a conversation with Clemens in December (post-Mitchell Report) about the Rocket pitching in 2008. One last half season with the Astros might've made sense at the right price, and it appeared at the time that Clemens wanted to play. However, Davidoff says the events since that time make another comeback unlikely.

Stark's Latest: Patterson, Lohse, Lofton, Clemens

Finally, new info regarding some of the remaining free agents. Jayson Stark has the scoop. Seems there's a chance Corey Patterson takes a cheap deal to return to Baltimore. He could be relegated to fourth outfielder duty in that case. Stark says the Marlins have discussed Patterson internally, but aren't sure if they could afford the Boras client. Patterson would be a nice stopgap for Cameron Maybin, who'd be well-served with some time in Triple A. Ken Rosenthal also mentioned the Florida possibility. One of the most surprising free agents at this point is Kyle Lohse. Stark shoots down the...

Odds and Ends: Spiezio, Pavano, Gross, Jackson

Links, rumors... Scott Spiezio is in trouble with the law, and the Cardinals decided to release him for it. Joe Ostermeier notes that the Cards now have about $20MM in dead money on the payroll for '08. Evan Grant believes the Rangers would want Jose Ceda or Donald Veal in a deal for Marlon Byrd. Call it informed speculation, but Mike Berardino wonders whether Carl Pavano could end up back with the Marlins eventually. Ken Rosenthal recently wrote that the Padres were eyeing Gabe Gross. Tom Haudricourt found out that Kevin Towers never inquired on the Brewers outfielder, but that...

Odds and Ends: Hughes, Nathan, Pedro

Here's today's collection. Interesting article about Phil Hughes' blog. We should see more and more player blogs as the Internet generation reaches the Majors. Jonathan Mayo's book Facing Clemens has hit shelves. The MLB.com writer attempts to put you in the batter's box against the Rocket. Nothin' doin' on the Joe Nathan talks. I thought they'd hammer this one out to restore some Johan goodwill. Guess not. Like reading about injuries? Take a look at Baseball Injury Report, by my friend Rick Wilton. Especially good for fantasy junkies. Pedro isn't going to approach the Mets about an extension, but he'd...

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Roger Clemens

Last week we looked at one face of the steroid era (Barry Bonds) and wondered where he might end up playing in 2008. Today let's take a look at the newest face of the steroid era, Roger Clemens. Clemens has yet to decide whether to pitch in 2008. While his friends believe that the Astros are the only option, Buster Olney suggested the Cardinals could also be an option. And while the Yankees and the Red Sox have shown zero interest, we can't rule out a mid-season return to either team. Both have question marks in their rotations, and if...

David Wells Denied By Cardinals

David Wells' agent, Gregg Clifton, reached out to the Cardinals recently to see if his client could assist them with their early season rotation uncertainty. It's been said that Boomer, 44, is looking to make about 20 starts this year. He earned $3MM in '07. Derrick Goold says the Cardinals prefer their in-house options over Wells. What does PECOTA have to say about this? David Wells - 4.55 ERA Anthony Reyes - 4.32 ERA Brad Thompson - 4.29 ERA Todd Wellemeyer - 4.39 ERA Seems the Cardinals are on track with this one. I'm sure they'd be ecstatic to get...

Will Clemens Play In '08?

The tolerance for Roger Clemens' annual "will he, won't he" saga will be much lower this year in the wake of the steroid mess. But the fact remains that we still don't know whether he'll try to play. Buster Olney devotes a portion of today's blog to this question. He thinks it's in Clemens' nature to defiantly keep pitching. Olney says Clemens' friends indicate he'd only pitch for Houston. Olney speculates that the Cardinals might be one other club that would consider it. He could certainly help either team if he came with a price tag below $10MM. In case...

Odds and Ends: A-Rod, Boras, Pettitte

Early Monday morning reading material... Interesting article in the New York Daily News regarding Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez. Boras insists that many of his clients have not taken the largest deal offered to them, giving examples. The article also touches upon recent Boras clients connected to performance-enhancing drugs (Rick Ankiel and Scott Schoeneweis). Boras' agency is known for its obsessive attention to detail for all of its clients, and seeing a few of them busted raises some questions. Last winter, we discussed the possibility of Hiroki Kuroda coming over from Japan. Well, he's a free agent again, and Nick...